Cursed or Blessed?
by carterash
Summary: Retelling of SWTOR's KOTFE expansion, with added scenes, relationships, and character development not shown in-game. Main character is NOT the Commander of the Alliance (nor does she have the Imperial Agent storyline as a past). Relationships include: Agent-who's-not-really-The-Agent/Koth, Theron/Lana (the slowburn of the century), and /something/ between Arcann and the Agent...
1. Prologue

The shuttle soared through space and quietly docked at the Spire. The passenger on board stalked out in a swish of his white robes, ignoring the guards lined up in a show of formality. He strode into the lift waiting for him.

It flew upwards. There was only one place it could go.

The man clasped his hands together behind him while he waited to arrive, his cybernetic fingers tapping impatiently on his other wrist, eyes watching the floors soar by. The news he carried was expected, if earlier than predicted. All it meant was that his plan would fall into place sooner.

Not even the Scions could predict it, the fools.

The lift slowed and the doors slid open in the pneumatic hiss.

He strode down the aisle towards the man seated on the throne. "Father. They've come."

The Emperor didn't look at him. "I know," he simply said, and pressed a button on the armrest of the throne.

The blackness of space rippled behind the Emperor as a fleet of warships discarded their stealth covers. Thousands upon thousands of ships slowly appeared.

The Eternal Fleet.

Unveiling it could only mean one thing.

An attack.

Prince Arcann spun and went to prepare his flagship.


	2. Chpt 1: If a Deal is too Good to be True

"THEY'VE DIVERTED ALL POWER TO SHIELDS, LADDIES! GET WORKING ON THOSE ENGINES."

The engine room was hot, humid, and altogether a rather unfortunate collection of sensations and smells Fiika had come to associate with the giant warship.

"DID I SAY YOU WAS ON BREAK, ENGINEER TALLI? DOUBLE-TIME IT!"

The most unfortunate thing to come out of her stint on the warship was dealing with Head Engineer Pep. The man was loud, bossy, stubborn, and worst of all: a perfectionist. The term 'ship-shape' was used literally, and Pep hadn't taken kindly to having an ex-navy Imperial Agent tell him that duct tape would work just as well on valves instead of grease. Especially one as young as her who 'was too big for her boots'.

" _Agent_ Allos? Care to join the rest of my hard-working crew, or are you too busy admiring the scenery?" Head Engineer Pep spat sourly.

Fiika's response was about to leave her lips, and would have no doubt gotten her in deep trouble, had a pipe not burst directly overhead and sent steam roaring between her and the Head Engineer. The sound almost droned out the various alarms and the thunder of the battle that was raging in space.

Officers were shouting back and forth over the comms, ordering this, that, no not that, I meant- shut up, we need- Boarders are- Fuck, the starboard compartment has been breached- reinforcements- Jedi Master Pattik saved- Docking clamps-

Head Engineer Pep wasn't helping either with his yelling.

 _Wait. The Starboard compartment._

"SIR!" Fiika shoved her way past an engineer and waved Pep down. "Sir, the starboard compartment has been overrun."

The man frowned. "So, Agent? Get back to work. Soldiers will do their job, we do ours." Head Engineer Pep's jowls shuddered as he took another deep breath. "HEY, LADDIE, YER TWISTING THAT THE WRONG WAY YA SON OF A HUTT!" He barreled through to the offending engineer and threatened him with a hydrospanner.

Blasterfire filled the catwalks above, and…

 _Droids?_

One of the invaders dropped down beside Fiika.

She calmly aimed her blaster and nailed it between the eye sockets.

The droid raised its rifle.

Fiika dropped into a roll and dodged the bolts.

 _Droids that can still function after being hit!_

She drew her vibro-daggers and shot towards the… the… whatever the droid was called. Fiika ducked under the rifle and sliced through the power cords in its legs. The droid dropped and her other vibro-dagger disconnected the head from the body.

Fiika charged towards another droid, throwing a dagger at its power core. She tugged the dagger free as she sprinted past, the droid…

 _Droids can't die, so it's… whatever. It's scrap._

She dove behind a crate.

 _I wish I had my rifle, but nnnoooooo, Head Engineer Pep, no weapons with battery packs or augmentations larger than standard size 2._

Fiika crept around the crate and took out two more droids.

That left three, two of which were dismantling the engines, and the third-

 _NO!_

Head Engineer Pep crashed to the ground, too many holes in his uniform. The other engineers… The droid were clearly programmed for maximum efficiency with maximum lethality.

She stole across the floor, and her daggers flashed in the red warning lights.

The droid toppled over.

Fiika threw her daggers at the last two. A moment later and the hilts were protruding from the power cores.

Vibrations shook through the floor, announcing the arrival of something behemoth in nature.

She collected her daggers and stared in horror up at the massive war droid as it burst through a cargo door.

It barely fit through the door, gold plating scratched and glowing in the emergency lights. Its targeting scope spun at it observed the carnage of its droid brethren and the engineers. The blaster cannons clicked into place. Another step forward made the floor rattle.

The wardroid swiveled to look at her.

Fiika's throat was too tight to swallow the sudden lump of fear.

A green lightsaber arched through the engineering room and sliced through one of the blaster cannons; followed closely by a red and black figure. A moment later, and the green lightsaber's owner leapt into the fray.

Fiika danced away from wild blaster fire, eyeing the wardroid's unguarded rear leg. She broke into a run towards it and dropped into a roll at the last moment, slamming her daggers into the joints.

The war droid wasn't going anywhere soon.

Darth Marr buried his lightsaber into the control panel.

The wardroid's eye dimmed and it sunk to the floor, as dead as it could be.

"Agent Allos, we need an update on the engines." Jedi Master Pattik sheathed his lightsaber and nodded towards the computer terminal. "Darth Marr and I can hold off the droids."

"Yes, Sir."

Master Pattik smiled faintly. "It is good to see you again after Ziost. I know-"

"On the engine update, Master." Fiika's fingers flew over the keys. She scanned the results, dread settling in her stomach and leaving behind the cold sensation not unlike that of eating ice cubes.

Darth Marr's voice echoed around the engine room. "What is it, Agent?"

They wouldn't like the answer she had for them.

"Power core is strained to the breaking point. We can recharge the shields, but they still won't last long. There's not enough power to do much else." She could see Master Pattik realizing what she wasn't saying. Marr… with that mask it was impossible to tell. "There are rudimentary controls here, my lord, but we have few options."

Marr remained silent for a moment. "The enemy ships have us surrounded."

"Then we save as many lives as we can." Master Pattik leaned over and turned on the announcement system. "Attention! Shields are failing, and the enemy has us surrounded. Evacuate now, while you still can."

The warship groaned, and a massive cracking noise echoed throughout the corridors.

"So be it," Marr growled.

Warning lights flashed on the terminal and air pressure dropped. The engines shut down. Temperature was plummeting

Readouts one the terminal's screen told Fiika what she didn't want to believe: the warship had broken in half.

It was only a matter of time until they ran out of air or froze to death. Whichever came first.

Fiika didn't recall the engineering decking being… comfy. Not that she'd made a regular habit of sleeping on it, but this felt more like her bunk on Lord Beniko's ship. Except there was no pillow, leaving her head at an awkward angle typically prone to creating a cramp in her neck. She went to reach around to see if she'd rolled off it.

And she promptly froze, going back to feign sleep with measured breaths and relaxing her face.

Her hands were cuffed together.

 _Alright, so I'm a prisoner._

Training took over. Her clothes were on, but the knife in her boot wasn't. The faint hum of faraway and powerful engines told her she was on a large ship. The cuffs made her a prisoner, but if she was in a cell, it was unlike one she'd ever been in. Cells didn't have nice beds, at least, not ones she'd been in.

"You've awakened."

The voice was deep and sounded metallic, rather like two gears grating against each other with a bad cold thrown into the mix.

Fiika dropped the charade of sleep and slowly sat up, opening her eyes to see the speaker was standing in the dark. How dramatic of him. She turned away and studied the rest of the cell; soft blue lights and the little viewport showing her-

 _Are those spires?_

Reaching past the atmosphere of the planet below were thorn-like towers, making the murky sphere below look prickly.

"Where am I?" Fiika turned back to the man in the shadows.

He stepped forward, revealing himself. Perfectly clean white clothing-

 _That's got to be bloody hard to keep clean, right?-_

A cybernetic left arm, and a mask covered the left side of his face. His exposed eye seemed to be made of embers, and poking out from under his mask were some terrible looking scars. A lightsaber hung from his belt.

Fiika craned her neck up to look at him.

Something about him spoke of a quiet temper and too much power. Probably the spotless white clothes. Anyone who could pull off all white and keep it spotless seemed dangerous.

He didn't answer.

Fiika repeated her question. "Where am I?"

The man looked out the window. "My flagship. You've arrived at the heart of our empire."

 _Our? This isn't Dromund Kaas. Or do you have equally intimidating friends who rule with you?_

"We recovered the records from your ship's computers. Or what was left of them, Fiika Allos." He stared at her. "Fascinating reading. That one mere pilot could influence both the Jedi and the Sith in a war… Or were you an agent? The files weren't very specific over your duties... And your accomplishments at your age. Impressive." He clasped his hands together behind his back.

"Is that why I'm here? I'm… impressive?"

 _How flattering._

"No," he spat.

"And you have me at a disadvantage. I don't know your name."

He looked like he was thinking it over. "Prince Arcann," he finally answered solemnly.

"Nice to meet you." Fiika scooted back on the bed so she could lean against the wall. "So why am I here?"

Prince Arcann glanced at the laser shield that was acting as a door. "You are going to assist me in killing my father."

She kept her face expressionless and pretended to think the idea over while her insides rolled around in terror. "Alright," she finally managed to get out. "How?"

"I will have to release you from your chains eventually. When I do, I will attack him. You will also attack. His reign must come to an end." He watched the doorway as he passed her a derringer blaster. If she held it carefully, she could hide it in her hands.

Fiika's face remained impassive. "And after he is dead?"

 _Am I going to die for this?_

"If we both survive, then we shall discuss it."

 _You don't expect me to live, do you?_

"Fine by me." She watched a spire in the distance, the lie leaving behind a slimy feeling in her mouth. "What's below? On the surface of the planet?"

"Swamps. Cities."

Silence filled the room.

Prince Arcann remained near the window, watching the spires go by. Spires filled with people going about their daily routine, not a care in the world, no idea that their prince's flagship held prisoners who were most likely going to be killed.

Fiika distracted herself from that morbid thought and scrutinized his cybernetic arm.

"How'd you lose your arm?"

"The Jedi we picked up with you." Prince Arcann's eye flashed with anger. "He will pay for it."

"Master Pattik did th-?"

"Yes," he said, cutting her off as he stared at something past the laser shield in disgust.

Fiika twisted and saw a man approaching his golden years, eyes shockingly white and staring intently at her. It was rather unnerving. She had the sensation he could see into her, her mind and thoughts and... She raised her chin and gave him a challenging glare.

The man smiled in approval and changed the subject of his focus. "Prince Arcann."

He stepped forward, staring down at the older man, voice sardonic as he said, "still waiting for the catastrophe that you and your Scions foretold?"

The new man's face contorted with distaste but his tone remained polite. "You may close your ears to the whispers of fate, my prince, but they cannot be silenced." He shot a significant glance at Fiika before looking back at Prince Arcann with a spiteful smile.

"I wonder if silencing you might suffice. Take your superstitions elsewhere, Heskal. You are not needed here."

He looked at Fiika again. "Yet," Heskal said softly before leaving.

"You have… Scions? Like seers?" Fiika watched the man disappear down a corridor.

Prince Arcann's back remained to her. "Unimportant relics with unfounded beliefs. Don't be swayed by their nonsense."

 _Does the Scion know I'm going to die? Is that why he looked at me like that?_

Speakers crackled overhead. "Prince Arcann. Final docking sequence initiated."

He turned face her. "I trust you can walk?"

Fiika clutched the blaster in her hands, her heart pounding. She was probably about to head to her death. "Thank you."

Prince Arcann's eye narrowed in suspicion. "What for?"

"I… I'm probably about to walk to my death, and… I think I didn't want to spend my last few minutes alone."

He turned off the laser shield, not looking at her. "Come along."

Fiika followed him into the narrow corridor. Darth Marr and Master Pattik were being escorted by guards in heavy-looking gold armor. A pair of guards took their place behind Prince Arcann, leaving Fiika with Darth Marr and Master Pattik.

Neither said anything for about thirty seconds.

Then Darth Marr spoke. "What 'empire' have we entered?"

Prince Arcann kept striding forward. "The Eternal Empire. Zakuul." He paused and slowly spun to study Darth Marr. "You didn't even know whose territory you were invading?"

Master Pattik stepped up. "Some outposts nearby were destroyed not too long ago. Your handiwork?"

"We tested your strength."

Fiika could hear the cool smirk in Darth Marr's voice as he responded. "You seem to have suffered for it." The Sith shifted his left arm to enunciate his point.

Prince Arcann returned to leading them to wherever it was that they were going. "Less than your people did. Come along."

Something told Fiika that Darth Marr wasn't smirking anymore. "You're taking us to your master."

"I am taking you to my father. Valkorian. The Immortal Emperor of Zakuul."

"An Emperor." Master Pattik smiled. "Just what we were searching for."

They stepped into the lift.

The throne room was, for lack of a better word, spectacular. Had Fiika not been consumed with the mild panic that she was, in all likeliness, going to die, she would have been trying to memorize every minute detail to tell her mother back home.

And then Fiika remembered what had happened to Ziost. No more mother, no more step-father.

Guards lined the walkway, clad in the same gold armor as their escorts. They held shields and lightsaber pikes as they stood completely motionless, speaking of hundreds of hours spent training. Behind the guards was a narrow channel of water, reflecting the starlight back to space and giving the room a pleasant... clean feeling. Gold inlays on the floor under her boots caught Fiika's eyes. She followed them up to the dais.

And the throne atop it.

It stretched towards the domed ceiling, golden arms gracefully reaching out towards space. It spoke of power, of quiet whispers of ambition and unyielding will, of strong orders and high expectations. The angles were sharp, severe, and abundant. A throne befitting the Empire it ruled over.

And the man sitting on it looked the part. White hair combed back, bearded, intricate armor and long skirts. The lines on his face told her his age, but there was a knowing light in his eyes, as if very little escaped him and he could tell someone their own secrets they didn't even know they had.

Prince Arcann stopped at the stairs and knelt, voice echoing around the space. "His Glorious Majesty, Immortal Master and Protector of Zakuul: Emperor Valkorian."

Fiika swore that she heard some sarcasm in his tone. The prince stood and took his place at the side of the dais, not quite on it, but close enough that he was associated with it.

Emperor Valkorian rose, staring down his nose at his prisoners. "Welcome," he said. His voice was polished and rich, everything a ruler's should be. Yet Fiika felt like icy water had found its way down her spine.

This was not a man to trust.

Darth Marr stepped forward, head tilted. "A new name, a new face…" he growled. "These are not enough to hide from us."

"Marr?" Master Pattik whispered.

"I would know his presence anywhere. The Sith Emperor." Darth Marr shifted to stand tall. "We've been hunting you."

 _It's him. He… It's…_

Fiika's bones felt like they were vibrating with fury. She turned to the guards. Did they understand who they were serving? "This… _thing_ …" She paused to get control of her voice. "This thing you call Emperor is nothing but a murderer! He will kill every last one of you to fuel his immortality. He's already tried it once." Fiika glared at Valkorian, eyes stinging. "On Ziost. You killed everyone."

Emperor Valkorian regarded her with the same level of curiosity one would reserve for a bug on a window.

Master Pattik stepped between her and the Emperor, blocking her from view. A shield.

Darth Marr continued. "Your constant silence across our history… This was your distraction?" he asked, voice dripping with disdain.

Emperor Valkorian smiled in amusement. "This was my focus. Everything else… the means to an end. You claim to have come all this way to find me. Here I am." He held out his arms. "What do you want?"

Fiika pushed past Master Pattik, livid. "I WANT YOU TO ANSWER FOR YOUR CRIMES! THE DESTRUCTION OF ZIOST! THE WAR BETWEEN THE EMPIRE AND THE REPUBLIC- SHUT IT, MASTER!" Fiika fought against Master Pattik's not-so-gentle force-shove pushing her back behind him. "YOU CAUSED IT ALL, _EMPEROR_!"

Darth Marr flicked his fingers and Fiika was back behind him and Master Pattik.

No. She wanted that man to pay for what he'd done. Her mother. Luuko. Uncle Garo and the cousins. Her friends, their friends, the whole world, her home… He'd done it. And he had to pay.

Prince Arcann caught her eye, understanding in his gaze. She nodded. She'd give Emperor Valkorian everything she had.

"The fates of your core worlds and the people on them are of no concern to me."

 _Bastard._

Emperor Valkorian continued. "You say you know me- if that is true, then you know the depths of my power. Whatever you hoped to achieve here, you know, deep inside, that you cannot succeed."

 _Watch me._

"But you do not have to stand against me." Emperor Valkorian smiled thinly as his voice turned smug. "Instead… you can kneel."

Darth Marr thudded forward, legs stiff with anger and Fiika guessed his fists were straining against the cuffs. "I will never again kneel to you!"

"You would sooner die than acknowledge my superiority?" Valkorian's smile was no longer friendly. There was a predator gleam in his eyes, challenging Darth Marr.

The Sith stood tall. "It is you who fears death, 'Valkorian.' I do not. I. Will. Not. Kneel." He brought his knee up and there was a terrible cracking sound.

Guards pushed past Fiika, and Darth Marr turned, throwing them backwards with a wave of his hand. One of the dropped lightsaber pikes flew to his hand.

Master Pattik pushed Fiika to the ground. "Stay down."

She did not. Fiika stumbled to her feet and looked to Prince Arcann.

 _Now?_

He shook his head once. No.

Emperor Valkorian raised an arm and shot Darth Marr full of lightning. The Sith shook, whole body enveloped in bright purple light. Slowly the pike tumbled from his fingers.

 _No!_

The lightning stopped, and Darth Marr slumped to the ground.

Master Pattik bowed his head.

Fiika stepped back into a guard and was unceremoniously hit between the shoulder blades with a shield telling her to move up.

"CLEAR THE ROOM!" a woman's voice roared. "EVERYONE OUT!"

Fiika craned her neck over Master Pattik's shoulder to see a young woman, barely nineteen at best, stalk towards them, dressed in black and hooded. The guards filed past her in perfectly straight rows.

Master Pattik raised his head and stared down Valkorian. "Why the sudden privacy?"

Emperor Valkorian ignored him and spoke to the woman. "Vaylin, take this Jedi to be frozen in carbonite. His crime is threatening your brother's life, and… _liberating_ him of his arm."

"Yes, Father." The woman, Vaylin, eyed Master Pattik. "Oooh, an alien. How exciting. I do love your horns." She pushed Master Pattik towards the lift. He looked over his shoulder at Fiika, eyes telling her to be brave.

She didn't have to brave. She was livid, and anger worked just as well for something so foolhardy as trying to kill someone with 'Immortal' in his title.

"You."

Fiika glared at Valkorian when he spoke.

"In all my centuries, you alone have merited my full attention. You leave your mark upon the galaxy wherever you act, just as I do."

"That's a load of rubbish."

"No? Do you not recall Manaan? Tython? Korriban?" Emperor Valkorian observed her. "Rishii. Yavin. I know you remember Ziost. You've proven yourself equal to any force-user." He descended the stairs as he spoke. "Look around you. Zakuul is poised to become the greatest civilization in the history of the galaxy. I have forged this empire to surmount all my previous works," he said, voice swelling with pride. "To span eternity."

The Emperor gestured to the stars visible. "The Eternal Throne commands a fleet more vast than any ever built. It has the power to reshape the galaxy into any image I choose." His robes swished as he stopped before Fiika. "That _we_ choose." He extended a hand. "I will share all of this with you… if you will only kneel."

Cold fury made her words scathing. "I've seen the things you do. Sharing isn't one of them." Fiika raised her chin defiantly and looked down her nose at him, voice low. "You're a _monster_! I'll _never_ join you!"

He looked like he'd been expecting that answer. "So be it. Arcann. End her."

Prince Arcann nodded and flicked on his lightsaber. He cut her shackles. "Now," he hissed. The prince whirled and leapt at Valkorian, golden lightsaber flashing as he brought it down on his father.

Something stopped the blade from meeting Emperor Valkorian's skull. He chuckled as Prince Arcann tried again, to no change in outcome.

The Prince couldn't hit his father.

"First your brother, now your father? Tsk, tsk," scolded Emperor Valkorian. He… almost seemed to take amusement in tormenting his son.

"Does my ambition truly surprise you?" Prince Arcann spun, yet his lightsaber still couldn't reach him. Pain and anger filled his face.

"You do not have ambition." The Emperor shocked his son with lightning and casually threw him across the dais. "Only jealousy. That is why you _fail_."

His back was to Fiika. She raised the blaster and hammered shots into Valkorian's back. They bored through his armor, creating one small, perfectly circular hole. He fell to his knees, chuckling again.

Fiika walked around to look him in the face, hot tears in her eyes. "You should have killed me when you had the chance. Now you pay for my homeworld."

His laugh grew until it was booming around the dome. Emperor Valkorian began to glow purple, the light blinding Fiika until she was forced to look away.

And then…

Silence.

She turned back and stared hard at Valkorian's body, a shriveled husk of a man beginning to pass his prime.

Prince Arcann groaned from the stairs.

Fiika stepped over Darth Marr's body and offered him a gloved hand up.

He stared at it for a moment before taking it. "He is gone."

"I rather hope so. Ten shots to the chest is enough to stop a rancor."

Prince Arcann walked over to stare at the corpse of his father. His shoulders relaxed, and he turned to her. "What do you want?"

"I… what?"

"A reward for killing him." He stared hard at her. "Do you wish to return to your empire? Live on Zakuul? It would be a pleasurable life." Prince Arcann studied her a moment, and turned back to look at Valkorian. "He did promise you the chance to rule alongside him… I offer you the same thing, to be Empress alongside me."

She sunk to the steps. "I… I'm not sure yet. I…" Fiika took the energy cartridge out of the blaster and shoved it back in, repeating the maneuver until she realized what she was doing and set the pistol down. "I thought… as terribly common as this sounds, I thought killing him would make me feel better over my homeworld. But I don't, if anything, I feel lost now. I'd told myself I had to make him pay, but now what do I do?"

He didn't answer as he sat down beside her.

Fiika remained silent.

Darth Marr was dead, Master Pattik gone off to stars knew where with the woman named Vaylin, and she… Fiika had gotten her revenge, as unsatisfactory as she felt at the moment. She buried her face in her hands, her grief building up again-

Mother. Luuko, her step-father, the man who'd raised her alongside her mother. Uncle Garo and all her cousins at the bakery. Hell, even Yunni the family featherplume who'd hated her. They were all gone, and she'd known this, accepted it, yet grief had reared its ugly head.

Fiika refused the tears and looked bleakly around the room of corpses. "How are you going to explain this?"

"I killed him with you as the witness."

"Is that believable enough?"

"I am Emperor now. No one will dare question me. Or you, if I command it."

"Thank you." Fiika sighed. "I don't even know what for, I simply feel as though I ought to thank you. Perhaps for the death of that monster. It takes bravery to stand up to one's own father."

Prince Arcann's brow furrowed and he glanced at her suspiciously.

Fiika picked the blaster up again and set about dismantling it, fingers flying over the hinges and twists. Something to let her ignore her emotions.

He didn't say anything.

She started putting the blaster back together.

 _What do I want?_

It seemed nearly anything was possible. Prince, no, _Emperor_ Arcann could grant her anything.

He stood suddenly.

The lift doors flew open, and the woman Vaylin stormed towards them, eyes blazing as she took in the scene. "THE OUTLANDER KILLED OUR EMPEROR! GET HER!"

Guards in their gold armor marched towards Fiika. She backed up and tripped on the stairs.

"Let me go!" She booted one in the helmet and received a smack to the face that sent pain through her mouth and sliced through her lips. One of her scars had been torn open.

"Take her to the carbonite chambers," Vaylin ordered.

Emperor Arcann said nothing. He silently watched her be dragged away.

Fiika spat out the blood in her mouth. "I WANT TO LIVE, ALRIGHT? THAT'S WHAT I WANT! TO LIVE! PLEASE!" She fought the ironclad grips of the guards and they forced her into the lift. "ARCANN! I WANT TO LIVE!"

He nodded at her before the doors slid shut.

One of the guards hit her on the head, and Fiika blacked out.


	3. Chpt 2: Whispers in the Mind

What had he done?

Arcann stared at the freshly carbonited figure hanging on the wall; the pinched face, expression of terror, eyes squeezed shut against the cold. She'd screamed at him that she didn't want to die.

And she technically hadn't. So he had kept his promise to give her what she wanted.

Fiika Allos was alive in carbonite.

She looked it, too, the delicate curls of her fingers in fists, the wrinkles in her clothes.

But she wasn't living a life.

 _"I WANT TO LIVE!"_

Those screams' had been floating around in his mind, and now as he stood before her, they were silenced.

Why had he come here? He didn't have time as the Emperor to visit a carbonite figure who wasn't even aware that he was there. Nor did he want to…

She'd offered him her hand, so much like how Thexan had.

She'd been… kind to him. Trusted in his plot to kill his father. And she hadn't wanted anything in turn, not until she'd thought to was going to die for it. And it was such a simple and innocent request…

He owed her this much, to see that she was alive. That he'd fulfilled his duty.

Arcann left, still feeling unsatisfied.

* * *

Researching her proved more difficult than expected.

Arcann paced his sitting room, datapad filled with files discarded on his couch. Something about her was bothering him, keeping her on his mind, and he hated it, hated the weight of the curiosity and guilt.

The curiosity he could sate.

The guilt… It would go away in time, like all the rest.

But there was so little to retrieve from that Sith warship. He knew some information about Agent Fiika 'Spook' Allos. She'd been a pilot, then recruited to become a spy a year after she joined the Navy. Something in a mission had gone wrong, a Sith Lord made Fiika her personal pilot… and that was where the information became sparse.

Arcann lifted the datapad with the Force.

The most recent information was from when she'd requested assignment to the Sith warship. Her reasoning wasn't listed. He'd put together a small timeline and found it was barely a month after Ziost had been… devoured.

Fiika was from Ziost. She'd screamed for Father to pay for what he'd done.

He crushed the datapad. It couldn't tell him who she was, only what she'd done. Arcann threw himself onto the couch and leaned his head against the back of it, thinking.

 _Why did you help me before you knew my father had destroyed your homeworld?_

He shut his eyes, ignoring the rain hitting the windows.

 _I did not warrant your kindness. Why… Why did you…_

 _I am being foolish._

 _But I need to know why she was… nice._

Arcann frowned as he argued with himself.

"Why," he whispered.

"Do I need to explain it?"

His eyes shot open and he rocketed to his feet.

She was standing hesitantly in the doorway to his bedroom, twisting her uniform's hat in her hands and watching him.

"Explain." Arcann remained still, ready to summon his lightsaber.

Fiika carefully tucked her hat into her back pocket. "I thought you were smart, Emperor. Obviously I helped you kill your father so I could become just as powerful as you."

He eyed her. "No."

"Are you sure? There's a lot of things left out of those files."

"Yes. Now tell me why."

Fiika smiled. "I just like killing people?"

"Do not play games with me."

"Oooooh, power suits you." She crossed the room to stand before him, gazing up at him through her eyelashes. "That… doesn't." Fiika reached up and touched his mask.

And Arcann found himself staring down at his hands. Two… human hands. His hands. He touched his face.

Completely smooth.

She curled her fingers into his tunic and shoved him down onto the couch.

"No," he growled. "This is not-"

Fiika remained standing, holding out her hands, palm up. An offering. "Perhaps, Emperor… Perhaps I believe the galaxy will be a better place if everyone's a little more compassionate. It could make all the difference."

He stared at her hands, and slowly reached out for them.

The moment his fingers touched hers, she vanished.

Arcann jerked awake on his couch and squinted in the sunlight streaming in through his windows. He raised his cybernetic arm to block the light.

It'd been a dream.

Yet it had told him something. Perhaps some… compassion, or kindness, could make all the difference.

He would see her, and double-check that she was still alive.

* * *

She was just as he'd left her weeks ago. Still frozen, mind alive and heart beating.

Arcann silently stared up at her, the scars around her mouth and hair strands plastered to her forehead.

"Why?" he uttered.

He hadn't been expecting a response; and he didn't receive one.

The frustration grew.

"Why were you nice?" he spat. He hadn't needed kindness, and she had no reason for it.

It was unearned.

"Why?!"

Fiika Allos remained cowering in carbonite, clueless.

"WHY WERE YOU KIND?" Arcann bellowed. He hated that he hadn't deserved it. Hated that she'd wormed her way into his mind and dreams from such little actions. Hated her for… for making him think he owed her a promise of life, and making him research her, and making him frustrated.

He raised his hand, enclosing the block of carbonite in a Force grip.

One little squeeze…

He hated the underserved kindness she'd given him.

And he hated how he wanted more.

Arcann dropped his arm.

He would repay it, and then he would no longer owe her anything.

Freeing her was out of the question; it would be too difficult to explain.

He would visit once a week, make sure she was alive, and earn that kindness.

Just so he could be rid of the frustration that plagued him.

* * *

Arcann leaned against the wall. It'd been well over two years since she'd been frozen, well over two years of him becoming accustomed to being Emperor and well over two years of him sneaking away to have a moment of peace in the carbonite room; just to think, to… to have somebody to talk to, even if she couldn't respond or hear him.

It was the act of speaking it aloud that left him feeling… peaceful.

"Those galas are tiresome. There are better things for me to spend my time doing." He rolled his shoulder and spoke in an amused tone to Fiika's form. "I… have a fan club. The leader is some socialite, Indo Zal. He's offered his sister as my bride. Others proposed similar scenarios involving my sister…" He paused and thought back to the scene a couple hours ago. "Vaylin did not take kindly to them."

Something about it had stuck Arcann as… off, as if a marriage alliance hadn't been Zal's main reason for suggesting it, nor with a few of the others'. But some… He'd almost wanted to detach his cybernetic arm and leave it with the woman who'd been hanging off it.

"Undoubtedly, I turned them down."

A marriage alliance would mean less free time, and… he would not get the peace of speaking to the carbonite room. Speaking to Fiika.

Arcann sighed and rested his head against the wall behind him.

It was late, and he had a speech tomorrow morning on… something.

He'd return to talk to her tomorrow.

* * *

A soft breeze brushed her cheeks, chilling her skin. Fiika felt weightless, empty, just her… and breeze that was carrying her-

She opened her eyes and gasped.

Space swirled around her as she stood on an asteroid, small rocks floating and spinning lazily past. Stars sprinkled the colorful nebulas, looking altogether as if someone had knocked paint over the heavens and rightfully had thought a sprinkle of glitter would fix it all. Fiika reached out and gently tapped one of the rocks floating by. It bounced off her finger and spun away.

She followed it, marveling at the view of the galaxy in its glory.

Her little asteroid was barren; only her and her thoughts, even if it didn't feel like it. Fiika adjusted her shirt, looking around her for the source of the uneasy feeling in her gut. Something told her she was being watched.

But there was nothing but her and more rocks.

Nothing with eyes to watch her.

Fiika knelt at the edge of the asteroid and peered down into a dark abyss of a black hole. Under her asteroid was nothing, emptiness, none of the stars and nebulas and moons that were above it. She snagged a floating rock the size of her fist and threw it towards the black hole.

It disappeared.

There was a twinge in her stomach. Fiika shot to her feet and whirled around, expecting somebody there.

The emptiness of space sparkled back at her.

 _'You have a crowded mind,' said a voice in her head._

 _I- What?_

 _The voice made a thoughtful sound. 'A crowded mind.' It paused, considering its words. 'You cannot wield the Force, yet you triumph over powers far greater.'_

 _Who are you?_

Fiika toyed with her empty holster, scanning the sky for anyone who could be hiding. The voice felt eerily familiar, and she had the distinct impression to not trust it.

 _'I… am an ally. I want to offer you my power so you can achieve your destiny.'_

 _Why should I accept your help?_

 _The voice was silent for a while before it finally answered. 'You have earned my respect.'_

 _Does that mean anything?_

 _'I do not respect those unless they've earned it. You alone have.'_

She felt like the voice was studying her, watching her from every angle with a critical eye.

 _I don't want your power._

 _The voice chuckled darkly. 'You will die without it.'_

The terrible feeling in her belly worsened. She didn't want to hear whatever it was that the voice was going to say next.

 _'You are dying.'_

 _Aren't we all?_

 _'You need me.'_

 _No, I don't._

 _'You must fulfill your destiny.'_

Pressure built up on her left side, pushing her back towards the edge. Fiika staggered back, trying to fight the voice as it tried to topple her.

 _What are you doing?_

 _'If you do not want to save yourself, take my power.'_

 _No!_

Fiika struggled against the pressure building up on her left side. Her belly erupted in pain, and she dropped to the ground, screaming and arms wrapped around herself. Ice started to coat the asteroid. When she pulled her hands away from her stomach-

 _What's happening?_

Her hands were frozen, blue and covered in ice crystals. The numbness of frozen pain was spreading from her belly.

 _'You are dying.'_

Fiika rolled away from the advancing ice, sharp pain in her wrists as they started to freeze as well.

 _'Do you now accept my power?'_

 _No._

 _'So be it.'_

The voice shoved her off the edge of the asteroid.

Fiika stared at the black hole as she floated towards it.

At the last moment it vanished, and there was flash of white and warmth.

Something had saved her.

* * *

"Dear Brother."

Arcann shut his eyes for a moment and sighed, praying for more patience. He'd sensed her following him, and had thought he'd gotten away.

"What are you doing?"

"Watching them. I find it… peaceful."

"Ooooh, how interesting." Vaylin smirked at the carbonite forms. "Be careful, Brother, or you might over-excite yourself."

He didn't respond. He wanted her gone, out of the carbonite room. It was his place to find silence for an hour or so, and his little sister was tainting it with her presence.

"Well, if you're just going to act like you're frozen like them, I'll guess I'll spar with a Knight then." She spun on a heel and stalked out of the room.

He sighed in relief and leaned back against the wall. She hadn't heard him. Hadn't… sensed anything from Fiika.

Arcann gazed forlornly at the carbonite figure before him.

He'd been thinking about her lately. The girl that'd been pulled from that Sith's ship, a pilot or agent something; that wasn't what mattered to him. No, she'd… she'd been kind. She hadn't shown fear at having Prince Arcann waiting for her in her cell, but she'd agreed to help him kill his father, and she didn't ask why, only understanding on her face.

How had he repaid that?

He'd let her be frozen.

Arcann stepped forward, studying her block as if it wasn't something he stopped by to see every few days. He was almost looking for movement under the surface, proof that she was alive beyond what he sensed.

Perhaps he shouldn't have let her been frozen.

But she was alive, and-

He wasn't sensing what had been there for three years.

Cold. She was howling from cold, and sorrow and resignation in her mind. Her life-force was dimming.

Fiika was dying.

 _No._

Arcann hit the button for her to melt out.

She had shown him kindness and saved his life. He could return the favor. No one would know, no one came to check on the carbonite bodies anyway. She could be taken to his rooms, a doctor sent for.

Fiika's body slumped forward into his arms. She was shivering uncontrollably, hands reaching for him. Arcann held her close and ran to his quarters.

He'd promised her what she wanted.

To live.

* * *

Everything was utterly frigid and she couldn't get warm.

Someone was carrying her.

She opened her eyes to see who.

Blackness.

Were her eyes open? She rubbed them, and opened them again.

Nothing.

"I can't see," she whispered. "I can't see! _I can't see_!" Fiika fought the arms holding her.

In turn they tightened, and their owner spoke. "Carbonite poisoning. Your sight will return."

"Who are you?"

"A… protector."

His voice was… weird. But he was warm. Fiika curled in closer to him, icy fingers digging into his shirt. "Why?"

He didn't answer for such a time that Fiika thought he wasn't going to. She struggled to stay awake, to breathe. Everything was freezing up inside her.

Her protector seemed to realize that. He barked out orders she couldn't make sense of. He was warm. That was what mattered. She buried her head into his shoulder and he shifted her closer. Fiika ignored the urge to use her agent training to figure out who had rescued her. They had to be friendly towards her. And the muscles in his arms mean he could do a decent job as her 'protector'.

 _"Do not trust him," the voice in her head warned._

 _He's saving me._

 _The voice chuckled. "Only to save himself."_

 _Go away._

The pressure of the voice faded.

Metallic and cold hands tried to pull her away from the man.

"No," she mumbled. He was warm. She was cold.

The hands insisted.

The man released her after a moment.

Something was forced over her face and Fiika screamed as she was plunged into icy liquid.

* * *

Arcann watched her through the window. The doctor hadn't been told who she was; just that he had to save her.

Yesterday she'd been taken out of the bacta tank; and Arcann had finally been allowed to see her.

Now she was curled up in a ball, buried under as many blankets as the doctor deemed necessary. She was still shivering.

He'd been informed she was suffering from extreme carbonite poisoning. It would take another day or two for her to return to normal and go about her life, but that wasn't to be the case for Fiika.

Vaylin had found out.

And Fiika was to be frozen again once she was returned to full health.

The doctor had warned Arcann about that particular course of action; that re-freezing her again, particularly so soon, could result in severe side-effects. Some that she could never come back from.

His hand hovered over the door controls. Did he enter? See her? Would she recognize him?

He couldn't decide, and tried to push her out of his thoughts as he left the hallway.

But her question was on the forefront of his mind.

Why had he done it?

* * *

Something sparkled above her, and whatever it was, it was blocking out the light that'd been shining in her eyes for the past hour.

Fiika smiled, watching the sparkle.

Was it a shooting star? A droid to rescue her from the frigidness that plagued her? Or…

It was a person, their silhouette framed by the halo from the light.

It wasn't Lord Beniko; no, she never wore her hair back. And Agent Shan wouldn't- Would he? If it was a rescue mission, maybe he would cut his hair… No. Fiika squinted at the sparkling thing on their face. It didn't look like Agent Shan's cybernetics.

She wasn't sure what it looked like.

The person stepped away and Fiika was hit in the face by the light again.

It wasn't even a bloody heat lamp, oh no, it was a boring mundane light just for illuminating things.

She tried to burrow deeper under the blanket she had, and paused.

Hadn't there just been someone here?

Fiika gazed around the room and focused on the shadowy figure in the corner.

"I'm cold," she whispered.

The light flickered overhead, drawing her attention back to it. Whoever had picked out the light color had done a terrible job; the sterile blue hue did nothing for the medical room, and especially nothing for the ugly color of the blankets.

Blankets.

She'd asked someone to get her another, right? How long did it take them to get one? She'd asked yesterday… or had to been the day before yesterday? Come to think of it…

What day was it?

Someone threw another blanket over her. Their shadow hovered just outside the reach of the light, that thing on their face twinkling faintly.

Fiika stared at them, willing them closer. "Who are you?"

Silence.

Well, that settled it. She could do the silent treatment too.

She rolled onto her side, turning her back to them, and pulled the blankets up to cocoon herself. Another bout of the shivers erupted along her spine, making her shake from the cold.

The person added a blanket to her pile.

"Thank you," Fiika whispered.

* * *

They were keeping her drugged, whoever they were. The room was spinning, rain sputtering down the window in crooked streams that made her feel like a raindrop, falling… falling… falling… into an endless abyss below.

There was an itchy spot on her scalp she couldn't reach.

All the itchy spots she couldn't reach.

Her arms and legs were shackled to the cot, which was almost like praise. Whoever was keeping her drugged thought she was enough of a threat that even as high as a kite, she could still do damage.

Who had rescued her? Where was she?

Not home.

Ziost was gone.

So was everything.

Pudding sounded good.

Something clacked behind her.

A medical droid walked past.

"Hey clanker! Can you scratch my head?"

The droid kept going.

Maybe it wasn't even there. Fiika slumped back against the pillow. It was another vision from the voice in her head. This wasn't even real. It was another attempt at the voice to get her to take the power it offered, no thank you very much, no, Fiika was perfectly happy as she was… except she really did want a nice bowl of pudding.

Mother had always said if something was too good to be true, it probably was. And this voice was a bully.

Fiika twisted to see who was walking past her cot this time. Was to Lord Beniko? Agent Shan? Mother? Luuko? Who had the voice decided to be this time?

Arcann.

Rather an odd choice.

The man paused at her bedside and studied her critically, heaviness in his eye.

Voices said something behind her. Fiika felt a prick in her arm, and her eyes felt heavy.

"The answer to your question," Arcann spoke. "You were kind."

That didn't make any sense, but then, neither did this dream.

A hand brushed her hair off her forehead.

Fiika let herself drift off to sleep, ready for a dream that at least would make sense.

* * *

He should free her.

Arcann reached out, fingers hovering over her face, but not quite touching.

There was a hint of a smile on her lips. She must've been enjoying her drugged dream when the carbonite had solidified. He couldn't sense what was going on inside her mind anymore. Since she'd been re-frozen he hadn't been able to, as much as he'd tried to get the vaguest of hints.

"Enjoying yourself, Brother?" Vaylin cooed.

Arcann yanked his hand down and whirled, glaring fiercely at his little sister. "What are you doing here?"

"Hm… I got bored." She stepped up and peered thoughtfully at Fiika. "You're going to melt her out, aren't you? Is it because you've got a little… what's the word? Crush on her?"

He didn't lower himself to her level by answering that outrageous claim.

Vaylin grinned wickedly and pressed her advantage. "Is she going to become my sister-in-law?" A moment later and she looked disgusted by the thought. "Oh, Brother, tell me she's no going to be."

Arcann kept up his silence. If he ignored her long enough, she'd go off and find someone more entertaining.

"She wouldn't even love you. She'd been frozen for the past five years. And you let her take the blame when you killed Father. That's not going to sit well with her, is it?"

He counted to ten before speaking. "She killed Father."

Vaylin went still. "She did?"

"Yes."

"Oh. I thought you did. That's why I said she did to take the blame off of you." Vaylin shrugged nonchalantly. "She does deserve to be in there after all! So she can't hate you for freezing her for something she deserves." Her smile was a challenge. "Aren't you going to melt her?"

Arcann frowned down at her, not that Vaylin could see with his mask. "I need to tell the public that I am Father's murderer."

"Oh, that's clever. They'll think she was wrongfully imprisoned. But…" Vaylin trailed off. "Wouldn't you look like a coward for not standing up for her?"

No. He wouldn't stand there and be called a coward by her. "Leave me," Arcann snarled. He let his anger show in his eyes, and Vaylin stuck her tongue out as she left.

But her words didn't leave with her.

 _Coward._

Had he been a coward, by not stopping her from being frozen? He'd had the power to stop it, all it'd taken was one little half-lie, and Fiika could be living a life. And what would he even tell her when he freed her? That he'd stood before her carbonite figure and told her his life story, that he'd cried, smiled, that he'd actually felt… something but pain for a couple moments? She wouldn't have any idea what he was talking about…

And it would unnerve her.

No, he'd slowly tell her about the galaxy, update her on everything, and let her decide what she wanted.

Arcann clasped his hands together behind his back, satisfied with his choice of actions.

Next week he'd inform the public of Fiika's lack of involvement in Father's murder, and he'd melt her out.

It was everything after freeing her that was making him scared.

"I'm going to free you," Arcann said to the carbonite figure. "I once promised you whatever you wanted, and now I'm going to grant it. You will live."

* * *

She was back on the asteroid.

Fiika gaped in horror at the broken battleships littering the sky. There was Republic, Imperial, and the Zakuul fleets, all smashed and aflame. Her eyes followed a trail of smoke to the other end of her asteroid. She climbed up a small boulder to get a better look.

The entire scene was frozen in time. It was Lord Beniko's ship, shattered and spilling inky clouds of exhaust. Lord Benikos herself was fighting, lightsaber a red arc as she separated a Zakuulan droid's arm from it's body. Protecting her exposed side was Agent Shan. His blaster were drawn, eyes sharp and watching Master Pattik. The Jedi was in the middle of kicking another droid to the ground in a fruitless attempt. There were only the three of them, and thirty-something Zakuulan droids.

 _'Your… conspirators,' the voice said. 'A pragmatic Sith. An abandoned spy. An emotional Jedi.'_

Fiika had the distinct sensation that the voice had turned to look at her.

 _'Do they even hope to rescue you?'_

She didn't care. Fiika stood atop the boulder and waved her arms. "OY! OVER HERE!"

 _'What will that accomplish?' the voice asked, amused._

 _I can stop talking to you._

 _The voice turned sour. 'Each day they drift further out of reach. Without a center to hold… without us… the galaxy and all within will spiral into chaos.' The voice suddenly was right next to her ear, whispering in an urgent tone. 'Old foes have come to take your life.'_

Fiika leapt off the rock and broke into a run towards Lord Beniko's ship.

 _I don't have foes._

 _'Oh?'_

A blue figure appeared next to Fiika, casually jogging backwards in an Imperial Naval uniform. "'Ello, Allos."

 _Taai._

Fiika skidded to a stop. "You-"

The Chiss woman smiled softly and leaned in close, lips brushing Fiika's. "I've missed you."

"You… I-" Fiika screamed at the sudden pain erupting in her back. She dropped to her knees and slowly looked up at Taai.

She was holding a dripping dagger. "'Bout time you know how it felt to be stabbed in the back, Poppet."

And like that, Taai was gone, along with the pain in Fiika's back.

She stumbled to her feet and kept going towards Lord Beniko's ship. Or rather, the smoke that had risen from it.

Fiika jogged around ship debris from the battle that had raged on outside the atmosphere of her little asteroid. Some parts were radiating heat, others smoke, and some both. She hauled herself over an engine casing and swore at whatever had caught her ankle. Fiika jiggled her foot.

Whatever had her boot stuck had it stuck good.

She tried to yank her leg up and instead Fiika found herself being dragged by the ankle, away from Lord Beniko's ship.

The dragger was-

The pirate.

Fiika flipped over onto her belly and clawed at the nearest ship scrap she was dragged past. Her fingers tightened around a pipe, and she grabbed ahold, pulled with all her might to get her foot free from the pirate.

It worked.

He hadn't been expecting that.

She rolled to her feet and brandished the pipe.

The pirate chuckled. "That all ya got? You was spunky when you was mine. 'Course, you speakin' was the spunky part." He tried to take a step closer but backed away as she threateningly jabbed the pipe towards him.

Her scars were tingling.

Fiika leapt forward and her pips swung through nothing.

The pirate was gone.

She spun and took off again for Lord Beniko.

'Do you think you can save them?' the voice asked. It's tone was patronizing.

None of this is real.

'Illusions can still kill.'

Fiika pushed herself into a sprint and-

 _NO!_

They were dead.

Master Pattik, surrounded by droids and lightsaber in pieces around him.

Agent Shan, half on top of Lord Beniko as if he'd been protecting her when they'd fallen.

Lord Beniko, arms outstretched in the familiar gesture of throwing lightning, one arm over Agent Shan in an equally protective move.

 _'You have unlimited power to change reality. Choose to become something greater than you are now.'_

 _Enough of this nonsense. Stop speaking in riddles, you're wasting my time!_

 _'Time is all you have,' the voice said smoothly._

Something warm prickled her mind, drawing her away from the asteroid. A familiar voice-

 _Time is not all I have._

 _I have freedom._


	4. Chpt 3: Introductions and Detours

The person who'd freed him seemed familiar. He blinked, reaching towards the haze of lights.

Lana Beniko's face swam into view. She was saying something, waving a metallic object around…

All he could hear was ringing in his ears. He jerked away from the Sith as pain shot through his arm. Slowly warmth spread to his limbs and the ringing faded.

"Master Pattik."

He stood straight as his balance returned. "Lana… I…" Pattik shook his head to dispel the heavy headache. "What's… why are you here?"

"I can explain everything later. First-" Lana stopped midsentence, voice growing quiet with sorrow. "I thought she perished on Marr's ship."

Pattik followed her gaze to the carbonite figure handing next to the dripping one he'd recently vacated. "No, Prince Arcann captured her, too."

Agent Fiika Allos. She looked almost peaceful hanging there, as if she was in a deep sleep and shouldn't be disturbed. Something about it was wrong... it was the quiet smile. The last he'd seen of her, she'd been staring at him in silent horror as he'd been dragged out of the throne room.

 _What happened to her?_

Lana stepped forward and toggled the controls on the wall. Fiika's block was switched with Pattiks'. The Sith hit the defrost button, impatiently fidgeting.

Slowly a red glow blossomed across Fiika's figure, and she tumbled out, wheezing.

Pattik and Lana each hooked a hand under her armpits and hauled her upright.

"I gave you all the kolto," Lana muttered to Pattik. She pursed her lips, studying Fiika. The girl was barely standing on her own and shivering uncontrollably. "I didn't plan on rescuing two people."

Fiika raised her head, smiling wanly. "Lord Beniko, am I glad to see you. Not sure why there's so many of you…"

Lana rolled her eyes, smiling affectionately. "Let's table any thank-you's until I've got the pair of you offworld." She gestured to Pattik and pointed to a small pack on the floor. "Gear up, quickly." The Sith pulled one of Fiika's arms over her shoulder to support the girl.

He nodded and looked through the bag.

A lightsaber, grenades, and a keycard.

The lightsaber felt odd in his hands, but sturdy. Pattik didn't know where his had gone; it'd been missing when he'd woken up prisoner on Prince Arcann's ship.

Lana slung the bag across her chest and nudged Fiika towards the door.

A droid at the entrance beeped rapidly as it spun its head around.

"Is… that a Republic model?" Fiika squinted at it.

"Teeseven Oh-one. He's agreed to rescue… the both of you." Lana traded looks with Pattik. He could see what she wasn't telling Fiika. Saving her hadn't been part of the plan.

Pattik stretched his arms out as he crossed to the door. He needed to get over the tiredness in his body from being frozen. He sensed their escape relied on him being strong.

"Not a very big crew," Fiika muttered.

Lana looked like she was regretting freeing her pilot. "Yes, well, it's the best I could manage. It will have to be enough. The Republic and Empire have all but fallen to the man who imprisoned you."

"Emperor Valkorian will regret that." Pattik moved on to stretching the tightness out of his legs.

"I killed him," Fiika stated offhandedly. "Arcann's emperor now. He seemed rather… polite when I spoke to him." She turned to Lana, puzzled. "What do you mean, the Republic and Empire have nearly fallen to him?"

"Later," Lana told her. She looked over Fiika's head at Pattik. "You're our last hope."

"Then we're a sorry sort," Fiika muttered.

The chamber's doors opened and Lana pulled Fiika into the corridor, Pattik bringing up the rear. He pushed past them to lead the way as people scattered at the sight of them. He could sense their fear.

"What kind of prison is this?" he asked, pausing to look at a room filled with artifacts.

Lana grunted as Fiika half-slipped. "It's no prison. This is where Arcann keeps his most prized possessions."

"Possessions," Fiika repeated.

"Yes, don't you feel special now?"

Pattik spied a medical droid in one room. He force-pulled it to him and flicked it on. "Follow me," he commanded.

The droid obeyed.

"Up there at the security checkpoint." Lana nodded towards a computer terminal. "Get it before the door shuts!"

Pattik broke into a sprint, but his body wasn't ready for that after the carbonite freezing. His legs felt wobbly, lungs too tight. The door finished closing as he skidded to a stop. He braced his arms on his knees and tried to catch his breath, everything tingling.

The medical droid's feet clacked alongside Lana and Fiika.

"She is suffered from acute hibernation sickness. Shall I retreat her?"

Pattik stared at the droid. "Retreat?"

"Scan show traces of bacta and other stims used to treat carbonite poisoning in her bloodstream. Shall I retreat her?"

"Yes," Lana declared. She got Fiika leaned up against the wall and joined Pattik at the door. "We can figure that mystery out later. I got the door."

Pattik felt her gather the Force and it built around the door. As Lana raised her hand, the door opened. It got stuck at barely a quarter open. "Where's that droid?" he asked.

Lana tucked her hair behind her ears. "Generating false security alerts in other sectors. Capable little astro-" She was cut off as a comm unit on her wrist started beeping urgently. "Yes, I read you."

A man's voice exited the speakers. "An updated time table would be good."

Pattik smiled as Lana shut in her eyes in irritation. Some things never changed.

"Why?" she asked with forced calmness. "Is there a problem?"

"No, no problem…" trailed the voice. "But we are starting to feel a little exposed out here. You find that outlander yet?"

"Yes," Lana sighed. She fished around in the pack and handed Pattik a wrist comm. "I've patched him in."

"Great!" said the voice. "I'm Koth Vortena. Welcome to the most suicidal mission in history."

Fiika snorted. "I swear Lana's dragged me into worse. Perhaps she's mellowing."

The voice didn't respond for a moment. "Lana… who was that?."

"Lana's pilot who was captured alongside me," Pattik said calmly.

"Lana, I thought I was your pilot."

The Sith stared at her wrist with severe regret. "Be patient, Koth, we're on our way." She ended the conversation and looked up at the sealed door blocking their path. "Koth will fly us out of here, just as soon as we're through this door."

Pattik crossed his arms and studied it. "Lightsabers?"

"Too obvious."

They fell silent, thinking.

"I've seen her before," came Fiika's voice behind them. She was staring up at the security screen in horror. "She's the one who got me frozen."

Lana stepped away from the door to peer over Fiika's shoulder. "No," she whispered. She clapped a hand over her mouth.

Fiika pressed a button to zoom in on the woman displayed before Pattik could stop her.

* * *

She could sense the Knight's fear. How wonderful it was, to be the source. Vaylin smiled innocently as the Knight dropped into a quick bow. Behind him dripped two carbonite frames.

"Hi- High Justice Vaylin," the Knight sputtered. "The intruders have released the outlanders. Skytroopers are scouring the buildings, but…"

Ooooh, a but. That had to be what had this Knight so scared.

Vaylin raised an eyebrow. "But?" she asked sweetly. "Don't be shy."

The Knight's fear spiked. "But there are alarms sounding in every sector. We can't seem to pin them down."

"Well…" Vaylin let her anger show and grabbed the Knight's throat with the Force. "Don't you worry," she purred. She snapped the Knight's neck and threw the body down to the levels below.

A faint whirl caught her attention.

A security camera was spinning as it zoomed in on her.

Vaylin grinned. "Everybody makes mistakes."

* * *

Lana's face was colorless. "We're not ready. Not for Vaylin."

"It's three against one," Pattik said softly. "Just like old times. We're more than capable-"

Fiika slumped sideways and he barely caught her. She was freezing, no help in a fight and would be a burden until she got proper medical care. The droid had done nothing. No, they couldn't face Vaylin with her like this. Even just him and Lana was a risk he didn't want take.

Lana took one of her arms and pulled it across her shoulders. "It's a wonder you're capable of standing right now." She nodded at Pattik and raised her free hand at the door. "Go."

He added his strength to the push, and together they opened the door with the Force. They made it through and released their holds, letting it fall back into place.

More of the Zakuulan battle droids he'd fought were waiting for them.

He shot forward, activating the new lightsaber. A burning orange blade lit up the corridor as he sliced his way through the droids, cutting and burning them into charred piles of scrap. Lana's familiar red glow followed him.

"Skytroopers," she bellowed. "Vaylin's far from alone!"

He kept moving forward, spinning through the droids. A bolt whizzed past one of his horns and he force-pushed the mob back before leaping behind it.

Getting the droids' focus off Lana was a priority; she had to protect Fiika.

Pattik deflected the blaster fire that came at him, channeling the Force to sense where each bolt was going. Slowly he moved forward, until-

An opening.

He stormed into the droids and changed fighting style, going onto the offensive and bombarding the Skytroopers with slashes that carved through their durasteel. The stench of burned metal filled his nose and drove him forward.

A red blade flashed in the corner of his eye and he whirled, ready to-

Lana.

It was Lana.

And no more Skytroopers.

Pattik flicked off the lightsaber and hung it from his belt. He took Fiika from Lana and followed the Sith down the corridor to a lift.

"Starting to really bustle out here!" Koth's voice came out in static from Lana's comm unit.

"Koth, Vaylin's arrived." Lana hit the lift button and stared back down the corridor, eyes intense.

There was shocked silence for a moment. "Already?!" he asked incredulously. "Let me know when you hit the lift." There was a beep signaling the end of the conversation.

Pattik frowned with thought. "So what's the story with Koth? He's not Imperial." He stepped into the lift, helping Fiika stand against the wall.

 _Are you working with the Republic again?_

"'Course he's not," Fiika mumbled. "Us Imperials are trained to blend in. We don't worry about rush hour."

Lana gave her a look and spoke to Pattik. "He used to serve in Zakuul's military. Now he's dedicated his life to ending Arcann's reign."

"Why?" Fiika asked. "What'd Arcann do to him? Freeze him in carbonite?"

Pattik couldn't hide his smile. The girl still had her spunk. It was a good sign after Ziost, she was starting to heal from her losses. "I'm sure you can ask him yourself, once we make it out of here alive."

"I've got some questions for you, too, Lord Beniko. I thought I was your pilot."

"You still can be." The Sith paused and listened to a series of beeps from her comm unit. "Excellent work, Teeseven. Keep at it."

Pattik took a brief moment to breathe deeply and relax. He would need his mind and reflexes ready for whatever came next.

Which apparently was another call from Koth.

"HOPE YOU'RE NOT TOO CLOSE!"

"What's happening?" Lana's voice tightened as what sounded like blasterfire erupted from her wrist unit.

"NOTHING I CAN'T HANDLE, BUT WE NEED TO MOVE THE PICK-UP!"

"We don't have time for this!"

Koth's voice got snippity. "Well if I land now, I'll be shot to pieces! So just think of it as a personal favor to me, huh? Duck through another tower and I'll find you."

Pattik raised his comm. "Watch your back out there."

"My number-one pastime these days- Always love our little excursions, Lana. Back with you shortly!" The comms beeped as he ended the call from his end.

Stress lines around Lana's eyes deepened as she impatiently tapped one boot against the wall.

Fiika stared at her in confusion. "Are you two… What about Theron."

Lana gaped, incredulous for a moment. "I… I'll pretend that's not your greatest concern at the moment."

Pattik sensed… Pain from Lana. Over Theron. Something to bring up in private to see if she was alright; and certainly not in front of Fiika. The girl was too… exuberant over that topic. Sometimes things needed a delicate word.

* * *

Vaylin stared at the security console. They'd been here, and one of them wasn't well. Probably that girl her brother had been fawning after. She'd been sick with something and he'd saved her.

How romantic.

More like how foolish of him. She could have escaped, killed him, or worse, broken her dear brother's heart. Or whatever remained of it after Thexan died.

Vaylin sighed. "No…" she she drawled, and faced the door.

Those outlanders wouldn't escape. Not from her.

And oh, would Arcann be furious if his little crush escaped.

* * *

Pattik steadied his emotions as the lift continued down.

"What?" Fiika asked, interrupting his thoughts.

He sighed softly and opened his eyes to see Lana smiling faintly as she shook her head.

"It's… good to see the both of you," she finally said.

"I have a million questions right now." Pattik stepped forward as the lift began to slow. The doors opened up to an office space. Sterile black and white walls were separated by enormous windows that gave a view of a graceful city. Golden light fell to the floor in a patchwork of patterns.

"I know." Lana moved past him, lightsaber drawn as windows across the room shattered. "The answers will have to wait."

Skytroopers landed and opened fire at them.

Pattik shielded Fiika in the lift as Lana leapt to the droids and took care of them. "Come on," he ordered, and hauled her next to him. He sensed the fear of the people in neighboring rooms. He'd have to be more careful to not deflect a bolt to them.

Fiika stooped and picked up a Skytrooper's blaster rifle. "Alright, I'm good."

They followed Lana up a flight of stairs and into the office's lobby.

Holograms adorned shelves in red and blue. Pattik didn't recognize the faces. He paused as the Force surged, and he spun, lightsaber slicing through the Skytrooper advancing towards him.

It clattered into pieces.

He joined Lana and Fiika at the door.

"We need to get across that bridge," Lana said flatly.

The bridge wasn't that long; perhaps the size of three huttball arenas laid longwise together. The tiles were gold, and in the center was a beautiful planter brimming with colorful flowers. And standing on the bridge was a Zakuul Walker. Tall, cannons trained on the office building, heavily armored. Everything about it advertised it as lethal and efficient.

Fiika was leaning against the doorframe, sweat beading her brow.

She would be useless in this fight.

Pattik nodded at Lana and they leapt together at the walker.

He rolled under the legs and started slicing through the armoring to get to the wires and pneumatics. Overhead, from the sounds of it, Lana was standing on top of the cockpit and trying to carve her way to the control panel

A foot came crashing down, narrowly missing his own.

Pattik changed tactics and climbed up a leg to bury his lightsaber up to the hilt in the cockpit's floor.

The walker's engine dwindled.

Lana dropped to the ground as the walker toppled over. She stared at it for a moment as Fiika jogged to them. "Fight through it, Fiika."

The girl's face was nearly purple.

Pattik sensed her about to join the walker on the ground. He picked her up and slung her over his shoulder.

Lana led the way into the corporate tower across the bridge.

* * *

Vaylin sneered as she watched the outlanders enter the factory.

If they went in there, she wouldn't be the one to catch them.

And she wanted to be the one to catch them, specifically the girl Arcann was so fond of.

 _Did they even look where they were going?_

"Not the way I would have picked." She paused and considered the district power core on her left.

The miniature sun swirled.

 _Now if I took that out… I could catch them!_

Vaylin reached out to the power core and built the Force around it. All it took was a mighty tug, and it was unstable. The factory would evacuate, and she'd have her prey.

* * *

The floor lurched under his feet.

"What's happening?" Fiika mumbled over his shoulder.

Lana Force-pushed a wave of skytroopers out of the door and over the edge of the bridge. "It's Vaylin. She'll bring the whole city crashing on us if she has to."

The comm units cracked and Koth's voice shot through the speaker. "Lana? Are my scanner glitched? Did you just charge headfirst into a Skytrooper droid factory?"

"I was arse first," Fiika mumbled.

As if on cue to Koth's words, displays set into the walls light up as the droids were activated.

Pattik set Fiika upright against the nearest wall. She slipped down until she was sitting on the floor, blaster rifle aimed at the advancing Skytroopers.

Lana took up a defensive stance. "Vaylin's almost on us. We're out of options."

"This is just like Altair Three all over again!" Koth yelled.

Pattik started towards the advancing Skytroopers. The last thing he needed was Koth distracting them with talk as they fought their way through. "We can handle a few droids!"

Blaster bolts shot past him from behind, drilling into the eye sockets of the nearest droid.

Fiika.

Pattik dodged the droids' fire and stabbed the blind one through the powercore. He ducked under an arm and slashed through the next droid.

The Force surged.

He jumped over the small crowd and landed behind them. Pattik danced away from blaster fire and continued cutting the Skytroopers down until they were gone. Sweat dripped down his nose. He waved over at Lana and Fiika. "Come on."

The Sith helped the girl stand up.

Fiika was huddled into herself, shaking. She needed real medical help.

Lana pulled one of her arms over her shoulder and helped her make her way over to Pattik. "Koth," Lana asked into her com. "What's your status?"

The sounds of blasterfire answered. "Hostiles on my tail still, but I've got tricks they haven't seen yet- WHOA!"

The comm fell silent.

"Koth?" Lana whispered. "KOTH!"

"That one they've seen before!"

Pattik sighed in relief. He was alive, and okay. Lana looked to the ceiling, eyes shut and lips pursed.

"Got to go!" Koth snarled as a grinding sound started up in the background. "I'll keep my ears on!"

"Well, I'm sure it's nothing serious." Lana helped Fiika up the stairs towards the door.

Pattik brought up the rear, watching for more Skytroopers as they moved through the corridors.

Fiika was moving slow despite Lana's urgent speed.

They passed enormous rooms of storage bins, hallways, offices.

When they reached the next set of lifts, Koth came back on the comms.

"What happened to the reactor? That wasn't you, was it?"

Lana hit the button for the lifts. "Vaylin happened."

"Vaylin did that? Guess you were right about your outlander."

"'C-course she was." Fiika stammered. She stumbled away from Lana and fell over, curling up into a ball and shaking uncontrollably. "I- I'm so-so cold."

Lana dropped down next to her. "No fever. She's freezing."

"My guess is the carbonite poisoning that the medical droid mentioned." Pattik selected the factory floor for the lift. "It shouldn't last this long."

"It's not hibernation sickness. Carbonite poisoning…" Lana shook her head. "I've heard of it. It's from having an open wound for the carbonite to enter through when frozen. If they're not frozen correctly…" The Sith tilted Fiika's head and traced a gloved finger over a brighter scar than the rest. "Her mouth must've been bleeding."

Fiika remained shivering on the floor.

"We just have to get her to Koth's ship." Pattik stooped and picked her up. Fiika was shaking.

She turned into him, eyes squeezed shut and tears forming. "Th-Thank you," she mumbled.

Pattik nodded to Lana and they exited the lift to the factory floor.

Skytroopers in various stages of assembly hung from clamps, soaring by on assembly belts. They stopped every few seconds and sparks would fly out above. The glass floor let him see the hundreds of droids hanging below, and past that…

He didn't want to fall off the platform.

Lana cleared the way to the door across the factory, red lightsaber leaving behind glowing slashes in destroyed droids.

"Reactor Instability detected," came a cool voice over the speakers. "Emergency evacuation in effect. Evacuate the tower. Achieve minimum safe distance."

They had to get out of the tower.

Pattik lurched to his left and narrowly avoided a Skytrooper.

Lana's lightsaber sliced through it.

"Come on," she said.

Fiika shifted in his arms. "You're not as warm as him…" she murmured.

 _As who?_

Pattik ran after Lana into another lift. They soared upward, their shadows thrown up against the lift doors, the reactor glowing ominously behind them.

He didn't want to look at it. The Force was telling him to leave this place, to get away from the reactor, find a safe distance away on Koth's ship.

"I-I'm good now." Fiika wriggled out of his arms and stood on her own two feet next to him. She had her arms wrapped tightly around her.

Pattik turned back to the shadows on the door, feeling the lift begin to slow.

Odd.

Fiika's shadow was bigger than theirs.

 _Probably the angle of the reactor's unstable light coming from below._

The lift stopped. The doors opened.

The control room was chaos as technicians ran around from terminal to vidscreen to diagnostic displays back to the terminals.

"It's going to rupture- Sound the alar-EVERYBODY OUT! EVER- Ten blocks in every direct-"

"Catastrophic reactor failure imminent," said the cool voice over the speakers.

"TEN BLOCKS- gonna rupture!- the alarm- OUT!"

Lana shook her head. "There's nothing we can do here. Let's go."

Pattik paused and watched the reactor slowly expanding. She was right. The Force couldn't contain the blast or stabilize it. They had to get away before it failed.

"DON'T YOU DARE!" shouted Koth over the comms.

Lana must've not turned hers off.

"IS THAT THING BLOWS, IT'S TAKING A WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE WITH IT." There was static, and then Koth's voice was more controlled, tighter. "You can still shut it down. Half the city will go dark, but the countless thousands who live and work here will have a chance."

Pattik opened his mouth to explain that neither the Jedi nor Sith could contain an explosion like that or stop it from happening. But-

Fiika.

The girl was sprinting across the room towards a broken window. She grabbed a technician and stole some things off his belt.

"FIIKA!"

She leapt out of the window, aiming something at a sensory array. A cable shot out and attached to the antennae.

Pattik and Lana leapt after her.

Fiika landed first on the reactor catwalks. She started towards a control station.

Pattik thudded onto the catwalk, Lana a half-second later. She reached out with a hand and yanked Fiika back a couple feet with the Force.

"Do you see?" The Sith pointed to the growing reactor core in fury "This is how far they'll go to stop us. We need to get offworld now!"

Fiika stared back, an unfamiliar look of resistance to Lana in her eyes. "I'm going to fix this," she snarled. The girl spun on her heel and took off towards the control console.

Pattik ran after her, Lana ahead of him and a fierce look on her face as she spat scathingly, "your slumber must've had quite the effect!"

"I lost my family, I'm not going to sit by and let it happen to others!"

Pattik pushed the shame down in his belly, knowing he should have considered saving the innocent. But if they didn't escape… would more be hurt? If saving these few damned the rest…

"We're going to die!" Lana roared as the air pressure shifted.

"Go wait for Koth," Fiika fired back.

"I'm not leaving!" Pattik stood next to Fiika. He would help save these people. It was too late to turn back.

Lana's lips formed a thin line. "Fine."

Fiika fussed with the console's controls. "I need both of you to go disconnect the power conduits from each sensor array." She pointed to the pair of antennae towers nearby. "Hurry!"

Pattik didn't see if Lana listened, he knew she would. He force-leapt over the catwalks to the array and tore off the covering to bury his lightsaber into the conduits.

The sensor's lights dimmed.

It was disconnected.

He turned and saw Lana with the other array as it's lights twinkled out.

When he returned to the control station, Fiika's face was covered in sweat and she was shaking again. She was panicking as she repeatedly slammed her fist down on the console. "OY! WORK!"

Lana grabbed her arm. "We need to leave!"

The screen turned green. "Relax, it's going to be fine." Fiika clicked a different series of keys.

The panel on the side exploded.

"Relaxing didn't work so well. Now what do you propose to do?"

"Whatever I can!" snapped Fiika.

Pattik waved his hand to catch Lana's attention. _Calm down_ , he mouthed at her. Fiika would not do well with a Sith screaming in her ear.

The girl hurried around the panel to the direct feed to the power core.

"Catastrophic reactor failure imminent," the cool voice reminded them.

"Enough," declared Lana. "I'm taking you with me, whether you like it or not!" She gripped Fiika's arm and started dragging her towards the lift back up to the factory's control room.

Fiika leveled her stolen Skytrooper rifle at the direct input tubes and fired.

A minor explosion rocked the catwalks.

"Reactor shutdown sequence initiated. Warning: Grid integrity at risk."

Pattik ran a hand down his face and grinned. Lana looked like she was trying to swallow someone sour. Fiika was smiling wanly.

"Damn your stubbornness!" Lana hissed. "You just gambled the fate of the galaxy!"

"I took a calculated risk. It paid off."

The Sith and the agent stared at each other for a moment before Lana looked away first, smile hinting at her lips. "You engaged in an unsuccessful attempt to kill us both, is what you did."

The pair of them broke out into laughter.

 _It must be some Imperial inside joke._

"Come on." Fiika nodded her head towards the lift, arms back around herself to stay warm.

"Unbelieveable," Lana stated, shaking her head. "You… I can't believe I missed you." She smiled fondly at Fiika as the lift took them upwards.

"Can't believe this is the second time you've rescued me."

"I am currently regretting the first time."

Pattik cleared his throat. "We still need to get to Koth." He stepped out into the control room.

"There." Lana pointed to a small lift in the corner. "It will take us to the maintenance catwalks."

* * *

They stepped out of the lift in time to watch the lights go out in the surrounding towers.

"Primary grid shutdown protocols are in effect," went the cool voice.

A moment later and the lift's lights switched off.

Fiika shuddered and looked around. "The d-dark should help our escape."

"Not as well as a massive explosion would have," Lana added as she lifted her comm. "But it will do. Koth, where are you?"

Faint static echoed from the comm. Koth's end was on, but he wasn't speaking.

"Koth?"

"Ran into sort of a… maintenance issue."

Pattik had seen the expression on Lana's face before, right before she smacked her face into her datapad after Fiika had managed to ruin yet another Walker. He sensed that Koth had just crashed a ship, and it wasn't an uncommon occurrence. "How bad is it?" he asked.

"It's not great, but we're on top of it. Give us.. three minutes?" Blaster fire followed his suggestion. "Hang tight. Hope you're not scared of the dark."

"You do what you have to." Pattik frowned as Fiika leaned over, shaking again. "We'll be waiting."

Lana led Fiika away from the lift. "Let's find a place and lie low, and-

"Not an option," Pattik interrupted as Skytroopers appeared in the sky above. One of them caught sight of them.

 _Three minutes. Right._

* * *

The skytroopers had stopped.

Pattik braced himself on his knees, breathing hard as he tried to catch his breath.

 _How long until I'm recovered from hibernation?_

Lana caught up to him, once again with one of Fiika's arms over her shoulder.

"So much for the cover-of-darkness theory," Pattik said flatly.

Lana's frown deepened. "Vaylin is nothing if not persistent." She hit her comm and paused as the sounds of battle. "Koth… is that blasterfire?"

"Almost there. Three more minutes."

"You-" Lana stopped mid-sentence and slowly dropped Fiika. The girl's eyes were staring in horror at something behind Pattik.

He turned.

A pair of men in heavy gold armor were approaching. They seemed familiar… Pattik thought back to when he'd been captured and aboard Prince Arcann's ship. These were the guards.

"Koth, we don't have three more minutes," Lana whispered.

"Two and a half!"

Pattik shut off the comms. If they were going to fight these guards, a distraction was the last thing they needed. He drew in the Force, centering himself.

The bigger of the guards stepped forward and spoke in a booming voice. "Outlanders!" He pointed to Fiika leaning against the railing. "You are guilty of assassinating the Immortal Emperor and evading imprisonment." He went to Pattik. "You are guilty of attacking and wounding Emperor Arcann, and evading imprisonment." The guard stopped at Lana. "And you are guilty of freeing the convicted!"

The other guard pompously held out his arms. "We demand your immediate surrender!"

Lana shifted on her toes. "Knights of Zakuul. A policing body under Vaylin's charge. Force-Sensitives."

"We need to gain the upper hand." Pattik took a deep breath, watching them. "They must have some tactical disadvantage."

"Not that I've encountered. They're well trained, extremely competent."

The bigger Knight crossed his arms. "Stop talking and disarm, and surrender at once."

Pattik could sense his anger. Perhaps making him ever more upset would lead to mistakes? "I do not answer to your demands! Nor Vaylin's, nor Arcann's. Are we clear?"

The Knights had bristled at his lack of Arcann's title.

The big one activated his lightsaber. "Then you give us no choice. Take them by force!"

Pattik charged him, leaving the smaller one to Lana. His lightsaber clashed against the Knight's, and he used the momentum to twist around him.

The Knight's elbow met Pattik's nose and he stumbled away. His next parry was clumsy.

"Lower your weapon and admit defeat!" the Knight hissed.

Pattik gathered the Force and pushed the Knight back a few feet. Lana switched targets and leapt towards the big Knight.

Pattik joined her, hoping the smaller Knight would try and protect his companion.

Instead he paused, hand on his helmet as if listening to orders. And then he charged towards Fiika.

The girl was waiting for him.

She barreled directly at the Knight, confusing him. As he skidded to a stop, she dropped into a slide and rammed into his leg, boots making a direct hit on his ankle.

Pattik winced at the flare of pain that echoed through the Force.

And then he was thrown forward.

He whirled back towards the Knight and Lana, no longer distracted by Fiika. She could handle herself long enough for them to take care of the big Knight.

Lana threw lightning at the Knight, not fazing him in the slightest.

Pattik watched his footwork and saw and opening. He blazed forward, putting as much power as he dared into his jabs and swings of the lightsaber.

The Knight was unprepared for the sheer brutality of the attack. He was pushed back towards the railing until he gave up and Force-leapt away to a ledge a few levels above. "Tanek!"

The other Knight didn't follow him. He had Fiika's arm twisted behind her back.

Lana growled and raised her hand, eyes bright with anger.

Tanek the Knight tensed up, hands flying to his throat as he was slowly lifted into the air.

"You Knights, you're never properly taught to channel your anger," she hissed. With a flick of her wrist, the Knight's neck snapped. She spoke to Pattik. "That won't be the last Knight we encounter."

He watched the bigger Knight run away across the upper catwalks. Something told him that they'd meet again. "That's because Arcann is too afraid to face us himself, as he should be." Pattik had bested him in battle once, separating his arm from him. But the Prince's screams of pain had made him take pity on the boy. Now he was no longer a boy, and Pattik would not make that same mistake again.

"No offense, but the only person Arcann ever feared was his father." Fiika crossed her arms tightly across her chest, shivering again. "Now let's find Koth."

They headed towards an adjoining catwalk.

Lana stopped after a couple steps. "Vaylin."

The three of them slowly spun around.

Vaylin indeed.

The woman in black smiled sadistically at the trio, a whole battalion of Skytroopers landing behind her. She playfully tapped her chin. "I don't know you…" she crooned to Lana. "But you… I've seen you. I took you to be frozen. I remember your horns." Her focus slid from Pattik to Fiika. "Oh, I'm not supposed to hurt you. Permanently, at least." She smiled wickedly.

Lana activated her lightsaber. "I… I'll hold her off as long as I can. The first chance you two get- go." She took up a defensive stance, jaw locked with resignation.

"I'm not leaving you behind, My Lord." Fiika took her place beside Lana, shoulders stiff with determination. "I swore to stand alongside you."

Pattik moved next to Fiika. "And I will not go down without a fight. It is not our time, I sense it."

Lana shook her head. "Both of you are impossible."

Vaylin cackled. "How cute." She studied her lightsaber and returned it to her belt. "No… I won't need that."

The Force flared, and Pattik yanked Fiika down to the floor, Lana a split-second behind.

"HEAD'S DOWN, EYES OPEN, RUN LIKE HELL!" Koth roared.

The hum of engines sliced through the air as a small transport rose up behind them. The lasercannons swiveled and pumped, firing at Vaylin and her gaggle of Skytroopers.

Pattik didn't see what happened, he bolted for the ramp as it was lowered. He Force-leapt and dropped into a roll as his boots hit the durasteel.

Sounds of another pair of boots told him Lana was on board, probably with Fiika in tow.

He pushed past a golden droid and found a man with hair twisted into spikes grinning as he fired the cannons.

"Koth?"

"Yep. Introductions later." Koth aimed the cannons at a figure under a durasteel shield.

Vaylin.

Something hit the transport and the ship bucked to the right.

A scream came from the ramp.

Pattik looked around to see Lana standing alone on the other side of Koth.

"Fiika," they said in sync.

Together they raced to the ramp.

The gold droid had Fiika in it's arms. "Declaration: meatbags can't fly."

"Get her inside!" Lana's words were almost whipped away by the wind.

Pattik nodded at the droid, following it up into the cockpit.

"Hang on!" Koth yelled. "I'm going to punch it." Another blast shoot the transport. "Got a little engine trouble." A small explosion echoed from the left wing, black smoke billowing from a gaping hole. "Okay, a lot," corrected Koth.

Fiika shook off the droid's arms. "Let me pilot."

"I got it." Koth swore under his breath as displays lit up on the controls. "Guns locked on!"

"You're- Give me the controls."

Koth smacked her hand away.

Lana stepped between them. "Just get us out of here."

"Trying to!" Koth snapped. "Come on… come on…"

Beeping and chirps came from Lana's comm. She smiled. "Teeseven says the guns are offline."

"Whoo!"

Pattik watched the security canons on the sides of the towers turned back to their inactive alignment. He sat down in one of the crew seats, relieved to sit back and relax for a moment.

"Thank you, Teeseven," Lana said gratefully. "We owe you one."

"Yeah, really," Koth agreed.

The gold droid raised his hands. "Lament. No one has thanked me."

Fiika shook in her seat, stiff and fingers stuffed in her armpits for warmth. "Thank you for saving me. I appreciate it."

"Humility: it was nothing."

The girl traded a confused look with Pattik. He shrugged.

"Salutations," continued the droid. "Greetings. I am HK-55, fully armed for combat and at your command."

"See to Fiika. She's… not well." Pattik gestured to her. "Carbonite poisoning."

HK-55 turned to look at her.

"Told you we'd succeed," Lana stated as she took the co-pilot seat.

Koth scoffed. "You left out the part where I lose my ship."

Pattik leaned closer and tapped the Sith's shoulder to her attention. "Lana… I don't know if you've heard yet, but Emperor Valkorian… he killed Darth Marr."

Reluctance overtook Lana's face as she traded a look with Koth. "Yes…" she started slowly. "Marr's absence has been felt by many."

"For quite some time, right?" Koth flicked a couple switches on the controls. "It's going to be a short trip. Might want to start briefing your friends here on what's been going on for the past five years."

Five years.

No, he would have sensed differences- The Order- The Republic-

Five years.

Pattik found himself sitting on the floor in a daze.

 _Five years._

* * *

Vaylin smirked at the new gathering of Knights. "Much better." They could spread out further than the skytroopers and follow clues. "Are you awaiting instructions?"

The Knights hurried away, stepping over the destroyed Skytroopers.

That transport couldn't have gotten far.

She sighed as her holocommunicator started beeping.

Arcann again.

He had no patience.

Vaylin plastered on a sunny smile as a tiny blue hologram of her brother appeared.

"The outlanders?"

"Gone," she said sweetly.

He froze for a moment. "Gone?" Arcann growled, still a statue.

"Yep, they're gone."

He clasped his hands behind his back, pissed. "I don't care what it takes," he declared. "I want her found."

The holocall ended and Vaylin couldn't help herself. She giggled.

 _Her_ found.

Her dear big brother, the Emperor of the Eternal Empire and Commander of the Eternal Fleet; crushing on a nobody pilot and sticking her safety above the need to capture the outlanders. He certainly had it bad, all love-sick when he had visited her in carbonite.

No, no, standing around and enjoying his torment wouldn't bring the pilot back, nor was it as amusing as the alternative.

Vaylin signaled for her speederbike.

She would witness this debacle first-hand at his side.

And she took off for the Spire.


	5. Chpt 4: Pain and Gain in the Rain

She was being frozen from the inside out. Lungs filling with ice that couldn't be coughed up. Blood turned to slush. Teeth were ice cubes. It was like brain freeze throughout her whole body, just… worse.

Her eyes focused on the gold was swirling around her.

Cold gold.

Fiika screamed as pain erupted in her leg, burning through her veins.

"Observation: Master Allos' lungs are powerful."

Fire turned the ice to steam, blood to a boil, teeth to embers. She was going to be burned alive inside her own skin.

Calm hands pushed her back down as an explosion rocked the ship.

 _I don't want to die on fire._

"Hold still, Spook."

"I- I… I'm too hot."

"Give it a moment," Lord Beniko instructed.

Fiika focused on the Sith next to her. "I-"

"Breathe," said Master Pattik across the ship. He was strapped in tight to seat, eyes squeezed shut and looking at little green.

She took a deep breath of air and it filled her lungs with heat. Fiika rolled onto her side, coughing. Slowly coolness spread from her leg, up to her chest and arms. "I… I feel better."

As it to draw attention away from her, the ship bucked and sparks flew from a panel, setting fire to the cot she'd just rolled off during the bouncing.

"GET THAT FIRE OUT!" roared Koth from the pilot's seat. Fiika stumbled to stand behind him, watching the Zakuul undercity whizz by. The spires' bases were enormous, and they had to be, considering that the spires themselves reached beyond the atmosphere. Traffic was in perfectly organized into lines. And it was dark. No sunlight permeated this far down with the sheer amount of structures above.

They exited the city and…

 _Arcann said swamps._

More like an endless swamp before them. No other city base was in sight.

Smoke started to fill the cockpit.

Lord Beniko stomped down on the fire as it tried to travel across the ship. "Did you think to take any extinguishers with you when you stole this ship?"

"Blast it," Koth swore. He leapt out of the seat and tore open an access hatch, pausing to look at Fiika. "You, you're up. See what you can do with this thing."

Fiika buckled herself into the pilot seat and flicked on the flaps to slow their descent into the fog. With the engine sparking and multiple controls malfunctioning, it would be a miracle to decently land the transport, let alone fly it.

Koth let out a few choice words. "We're going to crash. Harnesses on, everybody."

The transport groaned and a very large piece of something off the back fell off.

No one said anything.

"We lost… the entire rear compartment." Fiika lowered the landing gear for more drag, pushed the flaps out to their limit to slow them even more, and slowly lowered the transport.

Instead the transport took a nose-dive.

She yanked up on the controls.

The readouts said the ground was coming up in 50 yards…

Fiika angled the ship upward.

40…

It leveled out but was dropping in altitude.

30…

They were still going far too fast than she liked.

20…

"Brace for impact!" she bellowed.

10…

Tree branches whipped against the viewports. The ground appeared, and-

Fiika was thrown against her harness as the transport bounced and skidded and splashed its way to a stop. Smoke was still coming off the cot's mattress. Water was dripping in through a crack in the viewport. She twisted in her seat.

Lord Beniko was pale, Master Pattik as green as a Gamorrean who'd eaten bad seafood, Koth taking a moment to breathe, and the gold droid, HK-55 was-

The droid had his arms up. "Celebration: We survived."

Koth shot of his seat, shaking out his limbs. "That's two more shuttles you owe me," he said to Lord Beniko.

"Since I crashed this, I should get reimbursed." Fiika unbuckled the harness and turned around, smiling smugly. "Lord Beniko, the usual request."

"No," said Master Pattik and Lord Beniko in unison.

They fell silent as they exited the flaming ship. Lord Beniko continued, "nobody even owned this one." She offered Master Pattik an arm as he stepped down. "It really shouldn't count."

"It- "started Koth.

Fiika stepped out into the chilling swamp and batted a bug away from her face. "Quiet," she hissed. "There could be anything out here."

The man raised a dark eyebrow, eyes glittering with a challenge. "Well, there's wild animals, angry exiles, ungrateful rescue-ees- "

"The point is a good one," interrupted Master Pattik."

Koth held up his hands in defeat. "Fine, fine."

Sounds of the swamp filled the silence. Bugs chirping, wingmaws in the distance screeching, an echo of a deep roar and an answering one. The fire from the transport popped.

No one wanted to discuss what to do.

How did they get off Zakuul now? No ship, no way back into the city, and in all possible likeliness, Emperor Arcann was sending Knights and Skytroopers after them. Lord Beniko had said he'd kept her and Master Pattik like trophies.

He probably wanted them back.

She shivered as a flash of cold washed over her.

Lord Beniko and Koth were staring at the remains of the transport. The words 'fried engine' unfortunately carried through the damp air.

Master Pattik was silent, perfect picture of calm as he stared out at the swamp. "Anything on your sensors?" he asked HK-55.

"Confirmation: I've detected a large metallic object nearby." The droid clicked for a couple moments. "Analysis suggests a technological construct, but there are no energy readings."

Koth came up behind them, wiping oil off his hands with his coat. "Whatever it is, it's got better chances of flying that this thing. Engine's fried to a crisp." He sighed and looked around in distaste, buttoning his coat up against the cold fog.

"Skytroopers won't be far behind us." Master Pattik glanced to the sky.

Lord Beniko followed his line of sight. "We need to hide evidence of our landing."

Koth slung his rifle around his chest and headed towards the wreckage left in their wake. "I'll scavenge whatever fell off and hide it, you bury!" He waved at them as he disappeared into the murk.

"Just like Arron Prime," Lana muttered under her breath.

"Enthusiasm: shall we investigate the technological object? I believe I can guide us to its location?"

Master Pattik nodded to the droid. "Very well." He glanced at Fiika. "Are you coming?"

"I… I think I ought to stay where it's warmer."

The Jedi nodded and wadded into the muck with the droid.

Fiika swatted another bug away as she stepped out of Lord Beniko's path. "I get the sense you and Koth have been working together for a while."

"Long enough." Lord Beniko raised her hands and lifted the carcass of the transport up over the patch of dirt it rested upon. Oil dripped and bits of hull rained down on the mud. "I know you have more questions than answers."

"That's the understatement of the years, My Lord."

Lord Beniko dropped the ship gently down into the swamp. Water rushed around it, gurgling into the cracks and holes, until it sunk before the surface.

In the distance came another deep bellow of some creature.

Fiika rubbed her hands together to stay warm.

"We should keep moving. Let's find Koth and follow Pat. I promise," Lana said softly. "I'll tell you everything I can soon as we're safe."

 _Everything you can._

"I… Five years, My Lord. Five years. I…" Fiika forced a half-hearted grin. "At least I don't have to explain anything to my family."

"You don't have to act as though- "

"Please… I… I have to find a bright side to it." Fiika squeezed her eyes shut, fighting away the tears. "Let's, um, let's find Koth."

* * *

The cold was back in her fingers after a couple hours. It was also from the knees down, but that was more from sloshing through the swamp and less of whatever she'd been injected with wearing off. But regardless, it was eating away at her again, chilled fingers that couldn't be warmed up from stuffing them in her armpits or breathing on them. Shivers were started to prickle at her spine.

She'd given up on trying to avoid the swamp water.

And the fog. It'd sank into her clothes and hair, making everything damp and mildly uncomfortable. Alright, uncomfortable, but she was not one to complain.

Yet.

The odd phosphorescent fungi, though… Fiika did not recognize it from any of her training.

Koth avoided the glowing fauna with a good ten feet. She followed his lead.

Fiika wasn't exactly sure what to think of him. He'd seemed plenty talkative, almost a chatterbox on the commas during their rescue, and now… Silence. Altogether a rather curious combination. And… she was loathe to admit it, because it was the most inappropriate thing to notice, but Koth was decidedly good-looking.

At least her ability to like someone at terrible times had remained intact from the carbonite freezing. But that singular fact of his attractiveness wouldn't change anything if he was going to remain bitter and sassy to her.

Lord Beniko held up a hand and they stopped, going completely still.

Overheard flew a swarm of wingmaws. On cue they all shrieked. Rather loudly.

A moment later, and they continued on. Lord Beniko had a datapad that showed HK-55 and Master Pattik's trail.

A trail that'd taken them past a deceased Gundart, multiple dead mawvorrs, and creatures with ugly bulbous bodies and glowing red eyes.

Fiika had already discovered the hard way what the egg sacs of the odd bulb creatures looked like. She'd stood under one by accident and Koth had hauled her out of the way as the mother of the nest leapt down with intent to snack. He'd then fired his assault rifle into the nest, cracking it open.

Ten of thousands little ugly bulb creatures had poured out.

Lord Beniko hadn't liked the pair of them running off and cursing, leaving her behind.

Fiika had taken great care to watch what was above her since then.

Another roar, not as far in the distance as before.

She plodded on behind Lord Beniko and Koth, climbing over the tree roots and minding the glowing mushrooms off to her right.

"Not too far ahead. They've stopped," Lord Beniko announced, relief in her voice.

As if on cue, the swamp leveled out in a gully. Around them rose dark cliffs, shadows of creatures patrolling the edges and the world grew silent. Chills were erupting down her spine again. A very close roar tore through the trees.

They skirted the massive Gundart and its equally massive cave.

Fiika heard the voices before she saw them

Master Pattik and HK-55 were studying a ship that made the gundart they'd just seen look like one of the gnats buzzing through the air.

"Confirmation. Yes, Master, a closer scan suggests that this object has been here for several centuries."

"Centuries?" Koth rushed forward, incredulous. "Of all the junk out here…" He turned to give HK-55 a droll look. "You had to find the antique."

Fiika couldn't disagree.

Rust, moss, and decaying animal waste coated the hull over the peeling paint. In some places the hull was gone, replaced with gaping holes or treetops. Vines were draped over the ship like bunting in its first voyage out of port.

It looked like it was a couple centuries late to a scrapyard.

"Observation: Visible design elements do not match any from Zakuulan culture, antique or modern."

Fiika watched Koth's eyes go wide and his jaw drop.

"Not from Zakuul…" he whispered, voice reverent. "Could it be?" He stepped forward, fingers gently caressing the ship as if he were afraid to trust his eyes that it was real.

Lord Beniko traded a look with Fiika. "He doesn't overthink things," she said by way of explanation.

"Haha!" Koth danced away from the ship, hope and awe on his face. "Do you have any idea what this is?!"

"Thick hull…" Master Pattik muttered thoughtfully. "A few good spots for weapons… A destroyer?"

 _More like a combat-outfitted frigate if we're going off size._

"This is the Gravestone!" Koth's voice climbed in volume as he spoke. "This was the only ship that went up against the Eternal Fleet and won. Do you have any idea how long people have been looking for this thing?!"

Lana sighed as if this was a regular occurrence. "And we just happened to stumble upon it?" She made a little head motion as if to say 'again?'

"You said this ship went up against the Eternal Fleet. But it's rusting in a swamp while the Fleet is still around."

"The Fleet is even older than Valkorian, maybe even older than Zakuul," Koth snapped, frowning at Fiika's statement. "The battles happened centuries ago. Nobody knows the details of the whole war."

"So- "Fiika started.

"But every story talks about the Gravestone." He didn't look like he was going to be interrupted. "One ship with the firing power to take on the Eternal Fleet… This is fate," he declared. Koth pointed at Lord Beniko, a wild light in his eyes. "We get you outlanders, find exactly the weapon we need." He pointed at the ship. "We're going to win this thing, Lana. It's destiny."

Lord Beniko looked like she was choosing her words carefully. "It's certainly no coincidence… But destiny? I think there's something else going on here."

Fiika stepped away towards Master Pattik so no one would see her eye roll.

Master Pattik caught her eye and nodded in understanding. "Destiny or not, this is an opportunity."

"Let's have a look inside." Koth hit the door button and wasn't discouraged by the grinding noise. He pointed at HK-55. "Help me open this."

Together they hauled open the door.

"Assessment: nearby signs of animal activity suggest local predators may be using this wreck s a nesting ground. Caution is advised."

"Well that's rather encouraging." Fiika patted her empty holsters.

Koth handed her a derringer from his boot.

The handle was lukewarm.

Lord Beniko stepped into the corridor, lightsaber held high to illuminate the unflattering sight of animal waste and the rotting skeletons of old meals. "Let's split up, deal with any wildlife. Then regroup to plan our next move." She gestured for Master Pattik to go with her.

HK-55 started down his own path.

Fiika smiled politely and held out her arm. "After you, Koth. You've got the bigger gun."

He lead the way down a hallway, rifle raised and boots silent.

Quiet whispers of things shifted about in the darkness.

And Fiika realized something.

A rather unfortunate result of entering the beasts' nesting ground was that the beasts knew every inch of the decrepit ship. And from Fiika's point of view, they knew every little nook and cranny and the best way to attack from said nooks and crannies.

Her and Koth made it perhaps ten feet into the hallway before the rustlings of the creatures became agitated.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Fiika adjusted her grip on the derringer and wished for her daggers. Or to have a larger blaster.

They moved deeper into the darkness. At the end of the hallway light filtered down from a hole in the hull, reflecting off a puddle of water.

The pair of them didn't make it to the light before the attack of the wingmaws commenced.

"GOT IT!" Koth yelped as he ducked. Fiika blasted the leading wingmaw and spun, expecting another to be swooping at her.

She was right.

Koth fired at it, and she moved to watch his back.

The wingmaws were vicious. Unrelenting. It akin to being attacked by oversized bugs with teeth instead of stingers. Only worse. So perhaps it wasn't akin to anything but being attack by wingmaws.

"Mind your head!" Fiika snapped off a couple shots into the craziness, barely able to hear anything in the wild screeching and hissing and flapping.

"With what?" Koth roared. A wingmaw with blaster holes in its wings dropped onto his shoulders, screeching and biting at the sudden lack in altitude.

"That!"

Koth shook it off and kept firing.

Fiika continued doing what she could with the little bite-sized blaster.

"Move!" Koth pushed her towards the end of the hallway. They sloshed through the water, blasters firing at the small cloud of animals.

"Tally: Sixteen," came HK-55's voice over Koth's wrist comm.

Fiika dodged another wingmaw.

"Seventeen," said the droid, followed by echoes of an explosion. "Twenty-two," was declared in a sing-song voice.

Koth let off a serious of rapid-fire bolts and dropped the rest of the wingmaws. "Whoo."

Fiika shook off the chills sinking into her bones. "Let's keep moving." She started down another corridor, blaster raised and finger resting gently on the trigger.

The deeper into the ship they moved, the worst the stench got.

Musty decay mingled with fresh excrement.

"Oh, Emperor's underwear, that's ghastly." Fiika quickened her pace, Koth on her heels.

"You said it," he agreed. His voice was muffled from his shirt pulled up over his nose.

She couldn't do that in her uniform. Instead she tried to alleviate it with holding her hand under her nose, but the lingering smell of carbonite made her stomach roll.

They progressed through the hallways.

The comm unit clicked. "These things are hardly cunning," Lana sighed. "Their usual prey clearly doesn't offer much of a challenge."

Wingmaw chirping echoed from the corridor Fiika and Koth had just passed through, followed by the thunder of wings.

"Run." Fiika whirled and sprinted down the hallway, Koth on her heels.

He had his comm raised as he growled into it. "Yeah…" Koth twisted and blindly fired a few bolts behind them. "Clearing these things out? Very easy… Easiest thig ever."

Fiika got off a couple shots.

They turned a corner into what looked like a docking bay. Koth dragged her down the stairs. "Duck!"

She crouched under the stairs next to him and watched an enormous cloud of wingmaw erupt out of the exit. The creatures fly in a tight spiral, and left for the swamp through the open docking bay doors.

"That was close," Koth mumbled.

She wanted to snap something back as they stood, but across the hangar… something red glittered on the ceiling.

Another one of the tiny little bulbous bugs with the red eyes scurried over her boot.

On all accounts, Fiika considered herself rather calm and level-headed over anything, but those specific bugs, after their egg sac had burst… She loathed them in particular, and perhaps was harboring a fear of them.

So Fiika squeaked and kicked her boot, flicking the bug to the ground. It let out a satisfying crunch as she stomped on it. "That's better." She turned to look back at the shiny red thing. "What do you suppose that is?"

"Dunno." Koth raised his blaster rifle and took a shot.

A screech of fury tore through the hanger and into the swamp, stirring up other creatures that turned tail and ran.

Away from the Gravestone.

The red sparkly thing shifted over and began to descend.

"Oh…" Koth started.

"Bloody hell," Fiika finished.

It was an enormous one of the bulbous body bug with the red eyes. Enormous, as in the fact that Fiika had flown star fighters the same size at it. No bug should have ever been allowed to grow that big, solely through the laws of nature, let alone logic.

The bug slowly shifted across the floor.

"I think it smells us," whispered Koth.

"Really? I wasn't quite sure." Fiika swallowed the lump in her throat. "I don't suppose you've got a knife on you?"

"Yeah." He wriggled a small switchblade out of his boot. "Why?"

"I prefer daggers."

"You wanna get up close and personal with that?"

"Of course not, naturally." She flicked out the blade and gestured to the advancing bug. "Distract it somehow."

Koth raised his rifle. "I'll shoot out the eyes."

"Perfect. Make it blind." Fiika slipped away from the stairs and moved to the scaffolding under the other stairs. More of the little bugs were spinning around on stringy webs. She wrinkled her nose in disgust and continued moving to circle around the giant.

Koth's blaster rifle spat heavy fire at the bug.

The bug didn't like particularly care for that. So the bug screeched again and charged Koth.

Fiika adjusted her grip on the switchblade and pushed herself into a sprint at the bug's bulbous-sac thing. If it was filled with baby bugs, she was going headfirst into swampwater to get them off.

She leapt and sliced into the bulb-thing.

The bug screeched again and skittered to the left.

Fiika kept pace, staying under it where the pinchers couldn't reach her. She stabbed the bulb again and gagged as luminescent red slime dripped down and coated her arm. Nevertheless, she raised the knife and buried it into the hilt in the bulb.

The bug tried running away, as if it knew it wouldn't survive the tirade from Koth's rifle or Fiika and the knife.

She dug her heels in, hand in a deathgrip on the switchblade, and let the bug tear a gash in its side as it ran.

Blasterfire hit the glowing red gunk leaking out of the bulb.

The bug caught fire.

Fiika released the knife and backpedaled from the smoking and screeching bug.

She backed up into Koth after a couple steps.

"That's…" He trailed off as the bug collapsed, dead. "Ew."

"At least it's gone." She started swiping the slime off her sleeve. "And I've got this disgusting gunk on me."

"It's doesn't smell too good."

"Neither does the rest of this place, Koth."

He snorted. "Yeah… Come on, let's keep cleaning the Gravestone out. She doesn't deserve these beasts ruining her."

* * *

Arcann gazed through the hologram.

She'd escaped.

Been freed by some Sith; some unknown Sith who'd managed to stroll through the Spire's secure storage rooms. What was Fiika's value to her? Was this the Sith she'd been a pilot for? Pilots were so common, though. It was difficult for him to believe that she'd freed Fiika solely for that.

Arcann's blood chilled.

Did the Sith know that he'd been seeing Fiika, and this was a blow struck against him?

No, no, of course not. No one knew, but him and Vaylin and a select few Knights who guarded the prison. Obviously the Sith cared for Fiika. Otherwise… why melt her?

But still, one fact remained the same.

Fiika was _gone_.

Fury bubbled away under the surface. Fury at her escape, fury that he had precious few options to get her, fury that he wanted this girl back, and, naturally, fury at himself for not melting her out as soon as he'd decided he was going to.

He hadn't chased after her himself, and deeply regretted it. Of course, Zakuul seeing their Emperor chasing after a nobody pilot would raise questions better left unasked, but…

She was gone.

He curled his fingers into a fist. First she'd dared to have been nice to him, almost exactly five years ago, just a few steps below the throne on which he now sat. And then she'd dared reach for him, act as if she needed him, when she was melted out. She'd make him develop an infatuation with her and then had the gall to escape and leave him in torment-

No.

She didn't know any of that.

Arcann let his fingers loosen.

And that Jedi... he'd stolen his arm away, left him on Korriban to be buried under the sand... Arcann felt his fury rising. He'd escaped, too, and there's be no mercy from him. A memory rose, of the Jedi shielding Fiika from Father. Protecting her. Why? Jedi and Imperials were not on the same side. Was... Did the Jedi care for her in a romantic sense? Why else would he protect her? And then Fiika...

 _Izak damn you._

Damn everything she made him feel.

Damn that blonde hair and kindness…

His fury ebbed.

"Brother," whined Vaylin. "Are you deaf now?"

He raised his head to glare, letting his displeasure show as he gestured to the hologram. "The Endless Swamp," he answered. "After the damage you inflicted," Arcann made a point of pausing, torn between congratulating her on keeping Fiika onworld or snapping at her for almost killing Fiika. "They couldn't have made a safe landing anywhere else."

If he tried had enough, focused and stretched his senses, he could barely feel her out there. Faint, but there. Something else, though… something else was with her, and the sensation he'd gotten from it had send chills of terror down his spine.

Vaylin crouched to study the hologram, twisted smile playing on her lips. "And if they didn't make a safe landing?"

 _Pray to Izak that they did, Sister._

"We'll know soon enough." Arcann pressed the announcement button for the Skytrooper factory. "Skytroopers: sweep the area. Focus on regions with high metallic sensor readings." He paused, seeing the little alert on the armrest that there was a message for him.

Had the carbonite poisoning doctor gotten back to him so soon?

Something to read once Vaylin left.

Which, as the lift doors opened, seemed unlikely in the immediate future.

A pair of armed Knight Captains escorted a Knight. This Knight was unarmed, fear and stubborn resolution radiating off him.

Vaylin hummed in interest, slowly descending the stairs.

The guards stopped.

The Knight stepped forward, shouldered thrown back and standing tall; all appearances of a man bracing himself for what was to come. "I oversaw security in the carbonite prison."

Ah, yes, him.

The Knight who looked the other way when Arcann had visited a certain carbonite figure every few days.

"I…" halted the Knight. Arcann sensed him steel himself for what he was to say next. "I humbly submit myself to answer for this failure."

Vaylin lunged forward, her lightsaber cleanly cutting Knight into two.

Arcann say her hood shift. Something told him that she was considered the other two Knights. "Sister?" he asked softly. Was she about to go over the edge?

Apparently not. Vaylin sheathed the lightsaber and clipped it onto her belt. She turned and shrugged, frown marring her face. "I didn't like his answer."

* * *

Lord Beniko had discovered the lounge on the Gravestone.

The couches were metal skeletons, cushions long since had fallen prey to mold, mildew, more of the bulb-bugs, and HK-55's flamethrower to rid said couches from said bugs.

Viewports gave them a fantastic view of the never-ending swamp, lest they get their hopes up that any civilization was nearby.

Select few of the lights above weren't broken, but without power, glo-rods were all they had. And very few of those they had, too, leaving darkness to pool in the corners and cast awkward shadows.

And then there was the smell. Bug excrement, feces from various creatures, the dank stench of mold, rusted metal, smoke from burning cushions, and the slime-stained sleeve of Fiika's uniform. Lord Beniko and Master Pattik had their robes pulled over their noses when Fiika and Koth entered.

Koth took a quick survey of the decrepit lounge and grinned.

Fiika came to the conclusion that it'd officially reached the worst place she'd even been whilst working with Lord Beniko. It was at a close tie with the pirate's barge Lord Beniko had found her on, for the title 'Utterly worst place ever'. She grimaced at the stink. "Lovely."

"It's not so bad." Koth gestured to HK-55 as the droid finished burning the last couch and its inhabitants into ash. "It's bug free!"

Fiika didn't feel like responding as chills hit her again.

Lord Beniko saw. "Spook, you stay here with HK. Pattik, Koth, and I are going to clean out the rest of the ship."

"Aright with me." Fiika looked around for a semi-clean area to sit and settled on a tipped-over storage crate after wiping dried dung off it.

HK-55 lowered his arm, flamethrower sliding back into its slot. The droid stepped to the viewports, sensors scanning.

Fiika studied him for a moment. "You seem more like a bodyguard than an assassin. Is that your primary function?"

"Confirmation: It is a very difficult task indeed." HK-55 circled the perimeter of the lounge, sticking his head down corridors and occasionally firing with a 'thud' audible a moment later. "That I have kept Masters Beniko and Vortena alive despite their high-risk activities is my greatest achievement."

Oh, if the droid paid attention to them that closely…

"The two of them seem close," Fiika stated, faking the offhanded tone.

HK-55 shouldered his rifle. "Deflection: I am not programmed to assess to discuss the emotional mattered of meatbags under my protection."

Meatbags? What? "Uh-huh." What ese was she supposed to say to being called a Meatbag by a deadly bodyguard droid.

At that moment another bulb-bug crawled out from a broken tube above them. Fiika whipped up the derringer blaster and fired, reducing the bug into ash. She breathed a sigh of relief. Those bugs…

"Admiration." HK-55 kicked the bug carcass into a corner with others. "It is great pleasure to witness your skills firsthand, Master Allos."

"Master? I'm not…"

"Clarification: Master Beniko altered my programming after we secured your release. I am to serve you with the same unexcelled loyalty with which I serve her. In fact, your survival is now my highest priority." The droid bowed slightly at this declaration.

The guilty feeling weighing her down was joined by shivers. "I'm no more important than Lord Beniko or Koth. Don't prioritize them over me because of the c-carbonite poisoning." She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to contain what warmth she possessed.

HK-55 nodded. "Concession. I will alter my prioritization as you request, Master Allos." After a moment, the droid leaned in close, voice volume lowered. "Gossip: I had not been led to expect such selflessness from you, Master Allos. I am impressed."

Fiika stared back at the droid, entirely unsure on how to react to that. "Thank you?"

"Assurance: You are welcome." HK-55 straightened back up and returned to scouring the room for any remaining bugs.

* * *

Lana returned to the lounge to find her… Actually, Agent Allos wasn't her pilot anymore, so calling her that felt wrong. Friend? Was Agent Allos her friend still, after all these years? Lana had thought she'd perished on Darth Marr's ship, had mourned accordingly; but she was alive.

It felt like they'd drifted apart those years, fallen out of touch.

For Lana, at least. Agent Allos had been frozen in time for five years. For her… Ziost's ruin had been barely two months ago. For her, Lana and her were still professional friends.

Regardless of all that, the fact remained that Agent Allos was back to shivering uncontrollably on the floor, pale and cold to the touch.

"Spook." Lana opened her pack and pursed her lips. The kolto was limited, but Agent Allos' temperature was plummeting. She injected her with kolto.

Agent Allos tensed up, appearing to be in excruciating pain for a good moment before relaxing. "Thank you, My Lord."

"Yes. Can't have you freezing up."

She nodded. "I… I'm just cold, is all."

Lana sat down beside her. "Carbonite poisoning can do that. You need real medical treatment, Spook."

"I… Not the codename, please."

Lana could sense the grief in her. "Alright, Agent Allos."

That got a smile. Agent Allos slowly sat up, arms still wrapped around herself tightly. "Lord Beniko, I understand if you want to be formal, but Fiika is fine. It's only as if we've known each other for years."

"Fiika." Lana nodded. Perhaps friends was what they were.

"Now that we've got that out of the way, I've got questions. You did say that you could answer some?"

"That I did." Lana pulled a pair of meal bars from her pack and flicked one to Agent Al- Fiika. "What is it that you'd like to know?"

Fiika grinned and bit into the bar. "Theron," she said through a mouthful of food.

"Anything but that topic."

"I. HATE. WINGMAWS!" Koth exploded out of the one of the hallways, forehead scratched and hair disorderly. He threw himself down on of the couches' frames. "Those bastards are everywhere."

"Better than mynocks," Fiika said.

Koth snorted. "Barely."

They fell silent.

Lana didn't wish to discuss what she knew Fiika would ask about in front of Koth. The man had a blindness when it came to the Emperor, and Ziost… the Emperor would not be discussed in an agreeable light for Koth.

Fiika looked around, color returning to her face. "So… This ship has been here for a thousand years? More?"

Lana wanted to bury her face into her hands. Koth… and the Gravestone… It was a miracle that she'd found other topics, like sabaac, to discuss with him. To say he was obsessed would be a gross understatement.

"Right!" Koth gestured at Fiika eagerly. "It's amazing that it's in such good condition, considering." He unwrapped his own meal bar. "Judging by the damage, I've seen, the stories are true. Whoever built the Gravestone scuttled it themselves after the Eternal Fleet was defeated." Koth pointed menacing with his half-eaten meal bar, glowering at Fiika's doubtful look. "It wasn't shot down!"

"I certainly, utterly, completely believe you, since the Fleet is still very much up and running, and we're… sitting on the ashes of couch cushions."

"The Fleet was defeated, not destroyed," Lana interjected. "Valkorian brought it back, under his own control, more than a century ago."

Pattik entered, nodding to them and sitting down beside Fiika.

Lana made a mental note to remind him to stop using Fiika's old codename.

"Exactly!" popped the rest of his meal bar into his mouth and pulled out another. "The Eternal Fleet is completely automated. Nobody knows who first built it, and every theory is crazier than the last."

Pattik and Fiika turned to Lana for her take on Koth's statements.

 _Why do I encourage him?_

She forced back the urge to roll her eyes. "Renegades left behind after successful droid revolution… representation of an entire race of droids from somewhere beyond the edge of the known galaxy…" She didn't add that these outlandish theories were the realistic ones.

Koth bobbed his head in agreement. "Like I said, crazy stuff. But no matter where it came from, the Eternal Fleet is practically unstoppable, and Arcann controls every single ship from the Throne."

Silence filled the lounge, occasionally interrupted with HK-55 finding a bug to exterminate.

Pattik leaned forward, thoughtful. "So if we defeat Arcann, the Eternal Fleet isn't a problem anymore?"

Fiika looked up sharply at that.

But what Pattik said made sense to Lana.

"So long as the Throne goes to someone other than his sister, yes." If Vaylin took the throne… Lana prayed it never would become a reality. "Regardless, we have many other things to discuss. I owe the pair of you five years' worth of explanations."

Koth patted the couch he was sprawled on. "Yeah, and I'm going to need some parts to get this thing moving again."

Fiika spoke up. "Fresh supplies and water would also be wise." She hid a yawn behind a hand.

"That it would," Pattik agreed.

Lana stared out at the endless swamp. "Tomorrow," she said distantly. "Today… today had enough action, and I believe we all warrant a good rest. HK, watch the room for creatures."

"Yes, Master Beniko."

She turned back and already found Fiika dozing on Pattik's shoulder.

* * *

That was odd.

Fiika felt around her bun again. It was done up in a peculiar manner, pins in different places than where she regularly put them in...

Did someone do her hair before she went into carbonite? Or… that medical droid in the Spire had said she'd been treat for carbonite poisoning. There'd been bacta in her.

It was some other mystery to figure out later, once they had more supplies and water and parts for the ship. Fiika was extremely doubtful that the Gravestone, if it even was the Gravestone, would be able to fly, let alone reach lightspeed.

But it was all they had at the moment; a little flicker of hope that she couldn't dampen out with reason or logic or rationality.

"Are you feeling up to this?" Lord Beniko studied her with concern as Fiika hiked up the straps of the travel pack.

She nodded. "Yes, My Lord. If I keep moving I should retain my warmth."

Lord Beniko didn't look satisfied. "I'll comm HK if the need arises."

"I assure you, it won't." Fiika marched forward, determined to not be the weak link in the group, no, she needed to pull her own weight, especially with such sparse supplies.

And then-

She stepped backwards, biting her tongue to keep the scream contained.

An enormous bulb-bug, nearly the size of the one rotting in the Gravestone's hanger, was casually climbing up a tree.

In all fairness, even Lord Beniko looked mildly alarmed at the size. "Let's go this way." She started to inch along the outside of the Gravestone.

"Gladly."

Fiika hiked behind the Sith, listening to the sounds of the swamp and memorizing them. Her boots, still damp from the previous day's forays into the marsh, quickly returned to their soaked status. The sleeve of her uniform was stiff with dried bulb-bug gunk.

It didn't have a pleasant aroma, either.

Lord Beniko was quiet as she moved through the swamp; silent and scanning the surroundings with a sharp eye.

It was as if she'd forgotten Fiika was with her.

 _It's been five years for her. Obviously it's not like it was just a few days that I was gone._

She batted a gnat away from her face.

"Here." Lord Beniko knelt at a trickling waterfall and held out a hand for the scanner.

Fiika rummaged through the empty containers in the pack and found it at the bottom of the pack, naturally under everything else. "Here."

She nodded and collected water in the sample vial.

The scanner whirled.

Fiika broke the silence. "When… When Darth Marr and Master Pattik and I faced Emperor Valkorian… they knew right away. He was the Sith Emperor, Lord Beniko."

 _He destroyed my home. I made a deal with his son and killed the bastard._

The words remained unsaid.

Lord Beniko shut her eyes and remained squatting next to the little waterfall. "I know," she finally spoke softly. "When he was struck down…"

The scanner beeped and flashed ugly colors. The water wasn't suitable for drinking, not unless they wanted to get severely digestively ill or poison someone.

Lord Beniko sighed and continued as she stood up. "When he was struck down, it released ripples through the Force. Everyone who had felt the Sith Emperor's presence in the past… On Yavin Four, on Ziost… We all sensed what happened." She shook her head, ending the thought, shadow on her face.

Fiika sloshed through the murky water behind her, waiting for the rest of the story. The sounds of the swamp seemed louder as she tried to tone them out, not daring to push the Sith to share.

After a moment, Lord Beniko spoke again; her voice less soft and sorrowful. "Arcann invaded soon after, claiming that a 'outlander' had assassinated his father, the 'Immortal Emperor'. It didn't take us long to unravel the truth."

"So you know I killed him?"

"You- you?"

Fiika nearly walked into Lord Beniko's back. She stepped around her, alarmed at the Sith's reaction. "Yes? Arcann asked me if I'd help kill his father, and so I did."

Lord Beniko looked, for lack of a better way to put it, as if she was still processing Fiika's initial question. "You… You killed… Fiika, you killed the _Sith Emperor_."

"Fired enough shots into his back to drop a rabid Rancor, My Lord."

"Emperor's underwear, Fiika."

Fiika smiled faintly. "I assumed it was soiled, My Lord."

Lord Beniko resumed her path through the mud, avoiding an ominous pair of luminescent fungal growths, occasionally looking back at Fiika in a mix of amazement and disbelief.

She followed the Sith, still with questions to ask about the five years. "What side did Arcann attack first?"

 _Since he'd proclaimed I'd assassinated his father, was it the Empire who suffered first?_

"Both," Lord Beniko stated. Her lightsaber appeared in her hand, and she casually disposed of a creature lurking in the reeds. "Ships from the Eternal Fleet struck at shipyards and rallying points for both sides simultaneously. They favored ambush tactics throughout the war."

"Arcann doesn't strike me as the sort to wait in the shadows."

"No…but Zakuulan sensor technology has a far greater range than our own, and their ships can fly much further on less resources." Lord Beniko knocked a vine out of her way. "Only vessels retrofitted with Isotope-Five could manage to outrun them. None could truly compete," she said, voice empty.

Fiika paused beside her, seeing the look on Lord Beniko's face. The Sith was lost in her thought, thinking. "How long did the Republic and Empire mange to hold out?" She took the water scanner and tested a small trickle dripping down a ledge.

"Within three months, the bulk of our naval forces were disabled or eliminated, and the Republic was in the same situation." Lord Beniko stared out at the swamp, hands on her hips and mouth twisted with displeasure. "With naval superiority, Arcann's forces could begin choking off supply lines, trade… any ship travel at all. The Eternal Fleet seemed to be everywhere at once. Coruscant and Dromund Kaas were blockaded by the end of the first year."

The beep from the scanner interrupted the conversation.

"No good here." Fiika dumped the water out and they started through the mire. "How did it all end?"

"The members of the Dark council fought Arcann's invasion ruthlessly- and lost. The Empire's treaty was ultimately negotiated by the Minister of Logistics."

"That git."

"My sentiments exactly. Chancellor Saresh also refused to discuss surrender, but the Republic Senate managed to overrule her. A cadre of Senators negotiated their own cease-fire terms." She gave Fiika a knowing look. "All those Senators have since been disgraced or dismissed. I'm sure you can imagine the likely culprit."

 _Saresh._

Fiika stopped at another stream cascading down from above. "What about Sith Intelligence?"

Lord Beniko didn't answer.

She didn't press the issue. Fiika scanned the water, and sighed. "This is better still, but not drinkable. There should be a source for it somewhere; that ought to be better quality."

They circled the cliff, looking for way up.

"I am no longer with Sith intelligence," Lord Beniko finally admitted. "But I know most of its assets were wiped out in the fighting. From what I've heard, the Empress prefers to rely on technological surveillance than direct intervention."

Fiika was only half-listening, instead eyeing the branches above. She held out an arm and stopped Lord Beniko from walking under one of the bulb-bug's egg-sacs. They skirted the tree and started up a muddy path.

"And what of Dromund Kaas?" She couldn't very well ask after Ziost. She knew what sort of answers would await her.

"I'm not sure of any reconstruction has taken place. So far, the treaties with Zakuul have held, but they will not hold forever…" Lord Beniko trailed off, relief present on her face.

They'd found the source of the water.

Lord Beniko took the scanner and knelt.

Fiika watched the swamp, listening to the chirps and buzzing and screeching and occasional bellow of something she'd rather not be introduced to.

"A freshwater spring. Should be safe for drinking."

Fiika sat down beside her and together they began to fill the various containers in the pack.

"So the Eternal Fleet overwhelmed both the Republic and Empire." Fiika twisted a lid on. "What was the result?"

"Both sides are forced to pay a heavy tribute to Zakuul, mainly raw materials and resources. They are also held under an arms limitation statute. The Empire and Republic are both breaking it, of course," the Sith scoffed. "But they're still incapable of challenging the Throne directly."

Fiika nodded. "Who rules the Empire now? You said Empress earlier."

"Yes. Darth Acina was the only Dark Council member left standing; all other died or disappeared in the chaos. Without opposition, she declared herself Empress of the Sith."

"Bit pretentious, isn't it? And the Republic? Saresh isn't still Chancellor, is she?" Fiika opened another container and lowered it to be filled.

Lord Beniko smiled faintly. "Saresh remains in power, though she no longer holds the title Chancellor. The Republic holds limits to their ruler's terms, but her replacement is a mere puppet." Her smile turned sour. "Both sides see this as an opportunity to eliminate the one another at a time of weakness instead of combining what strength they have," she spat. "Arcann does nothing to prevent violence between them so long as their tribute is paid and no one challenges Zakuul superiority." She violently twisted a lid on and forced the bottle into the pack.

"What does Arcann use the tribute for?" Fiika rearranged the full containers in the pack. "Zakuul doesn't seem to need much."

"A question no one else seems to ask or answer- not in any detail." Lord Beniko let out a frustrated groan, wetting her hands and slicking back her hair. "Zakuul's empire spans a sizeable portion of wild space, but not enough to consume the resources they're acquiring. I've been working to learn the answer myself, but it's been nearly impossible and no one seems to know anything."

"Arcann could have destroyed both governments. He's certainly got the firepower."

Lord Beniko nodded, eyeing Fiika. "You don't despise him, do you?"

"I… I met him, before Valkorian. He seemed rather alright, if a bit intense. I got the sense he loathed his father… and… I don't know. He didn't seem to be sinister, not the way Valkorian was. But he left the Empire and Republic to rule themselves?"

Lord Beniko shrugged. "I don't think Arcann feels any desire to actually govern our portion of the galaxy." She took a drink of water. "For now, at least. He views it as a backwater, useful only for resources. Powerful Zakuulan battle stations have been placed in orbit around key worlds to watch for possible uprisings, but there are no ongoing planetary occupations." The last word was clipped, as if a _yet_ was supposed to be finishing off the sentence, but Lord Beniko had decided to trim it off last moment.

Fiika dipped her finger in the spring, watching the ripples spread out. "And now?"

"The ships of the Eternal Fleet patrol simply at random, while the tribute paid to Zakuul gradually chokes all economic potential." Lord Beniko frowned as she drummed her fingers into the dirt.

"Is it just us? Any allies? Friends? Rebellious enemies of Zakuul or anyone with a death wish?" Fiika decided she needed something positive to hear after that enormous dump of depressing history facts.

Lord Beniko didn't look up from staring across the spring. "I have some allies looking for anyone interested in rebelling as we speak. With all the chaos of the last few years, though, we're hard pressed. For now… I make do with Koth and HK. And now you and Pat."

Koth. The man who snored loud enough to wake them all up at various points in the night, and who was up before dawn to start repairing the ship. And was nice enough to throw his coat over Fiika when the kolto had begun to wear off.

"How did you end up working together with Koth?"

"I knew I'd never find Pat- or you- alone. Recruiting assets with firsthand knowledge of Zakuul was my top priority for years." She put the water bottle away in a side pocket of the pack. "Koth was on the run, pursued by the deadliest of Zakuul Knights. I… resolved the situation."

"You have a talent for doing that with situations."

"Usually ones that concern you. And as I was saying, I resolved the situation." Lord Beniko's eyes twinkled with humor. "And we've worked together ever since. He's been an invaluable ally. Koth is a Zakuul native, a veteran officer of their military- one of the few who hadn't been replaced by a droid. He and his crew were part of the occupation of the planet Denon. When ordered to do things they weren't comfortable with, Koth took his ship and the crew went rogue."

 _Like Taai. But…_

The memories were too bitter and reminded her of all that was lost for good. Fiika distracted herself with creating more ripples in the spring. "What exactly were they ordered to do?"

"That's for Koth to say." Lord Beniko softened her sharp refusal with a gentle tone as she continued. "But I trust him with my life, as I trust you. I'm confident you'll learn to trust one another just as well."

 _But I'm your pilot and back-up, not him. I was that first._

Fiika pushed the resentment down. It would do no good, it would only make the situation tenser, and probably wouldn't endear her to the man. It was stupid, anyway. It'd been five years for Lord Beniko.

Time to change the subject. Or something. Anything else.

"So why us? You clearly went thought a load of trouble to get me and Master Pattik out of carbonite."

Lord Beniko-

Fiika felt chills that had nothing to do with the carbonite poisoning settle in her stomach.

Lord Beniko looked guilty.

"My Lord?"

"I… To be honest with you, Agent- Fiika." The Sith met her eye, jaw tight. "I thought you perished on Marr's ship. I went for Pat. I didn't know you would be frozen next to him, but I very well couldn't leave you there as that monster's possession on display. And I would rescue you again if given the choice."

Fiika dipped her finger into the spring again, watching the ripples.

 _I wasn't supposed to be rescued._

It… was almost comforting. It was by chance that she was alive, like everything else. Like the pilot defection, the pirate's brig, Ziost… she could be dead a thousand times over and yet by chance, she persisted. Like a bad toe fungus.

Perhaps that wasn't the best of comparisons.

"Fiika, I need someone to watch our backs. Someone I know is perfect for the job and will do what is necessary. You were there when the galaxy was changed, and you played a role in it." Lord Beniko laid a hand on her shoulder, leaning in and eyes pleading. "I need you to help change the galaxy again."

"'Course, My Lord. My duty is to make sure you don't go off and die when everything goes pear-shaped as per usual." Fiika nodded, still watching her finger playing the water. Lord Beniko was partly why she was alive after various situations, and with no family left after Ziost… Lord Beniko was as close as she'd get to a place she belonged.

"And…" Lord Beniko released her. "There's something else. I've felt it since the moment you fell out of the carbonite. There's a power in you, something new… it's elusive, but I know it's there."

 _The voice._

 _No, that was a dream._

 _Was it?_

 _It had to be. I haven't heard it since I've been thawed. Ha, thawed, like a slab of steak. A meatbag, rather like HK. I'm the thawed meatbag._

Fiika schooled her face to not betray her humorous thoughts. "I'm the same person now as I was when I was frozen."

"Something is different, I'm sure of it. But for now, I'm relieved to have you with us." Lord Beniko stood and offered her a hand up. "We've got the water; shall we scavenge for food or would you like to accompany Koth for engine parts? I know your training for finding local edibles wasn't your favorite."

"You know very well that I would rather spoon my eyes out than deal with Agent Trawson again. I'll assist Koth."

"You won't have to worry about him anymore. He was killed a few years ago."

Fiika knew Lord Beniko meant well, she did. But she was Sith, and pragmatic atop that.

Agent Trawson had been a right pain in the ass, but he'd always been a pain in the ass to everyone. A bitter and vicious old man who hated everyone and everything that was done different from back in his day. Someone who'd always been at Imperial Intelligence for as long as anyone could remember; and no one dared look him up.

Dead.

Fiika had always assumed he'd still be behind the recruit desk to frighten the shit out of the green agents long after she'd grown gray and died herself.

"How?" Fiika asked quietly.

Lord Beniko answered in an equally gentle tone. "Poison. He… do you truly wish to know?"

"Yes."

"He poisoned himself rather than let Vaylin get any information he could have. It was not a pleasant or quick death."

Fiika bowed her head.

The swamp seemed silent now, the chirps and buzzing and screeching muted in sorrow.

Agent Trawson had always seemed like he'd be alive forever. She'd joked with other recruits that Death was probably scared to approach him because Death would be snapped at for not standing straight enough and then be sent down to the basement for some files that didn't exist.

A tear fell from her cheek and splashed into the spring. Ripples spread out, radiating farther and farther away.

There was a parallel there to her old place in the galaxy as a simple Intelligence Agent moving away from her; but Fiika did not want to delve into it.

"I'm terribly sorry. I thought you hated the man." Lord Beniko pulled her into an awkward half-hug.

"I… I did. He was a bloody bastard, he was, and…" Fiika pushed the grief down. "He's gone, Marr's gone, Ziost… I…" She doubled over, wailing. "I- I… Mum and Luuko and and andandandmycousinsand… it can't be real, it bloody can't be, the galaxy isn't this unfair to one person." Buried grief rose to the surface and Fiika dropped to the ground, screaming.

A soft hand patted her shoulder. "It's alright."

"No its not. Everyone's dead. I was frozen for five years. I… Ziost!" She curled up into a ball and finally let the pain and grief and anger out. "I never got to say goodbye!"

"I know."

Slowly the bawling turned to sobs, the sobs to sniffles, the sniffles to hiccups. Fiika opened her eyes, realizing at some point she'd been hauled up to sit and lean against Lord Beniko. "I… I miss them. Terribly."

"I know."

This wouldn't do. She was the back-up, the one to watch everyone else who was watching her team. She couldn't be the weak link of the chain, or worse, be the one prone to crying fits and then was entirely left out of the chain. Fiika took a deep breath and stood. "Thank you, My Lord. Shall we return to the ship so I can go with Koth?"

Lord Beniko nodded and started back towards the Gravestone, pack slung across her back.

The swamp remained quiet.

No chirps, buzzing, screeching.

Silent.

The creatures were hiding from a predator.

Fiika drew the little blaster from Koth. "Lord Beniko. The noise."

The Sith's spine stiffened. She drew her lightsaber, leaving it unlit and moving to stand back-to-back with Fiika. "I do not sense anything."

"Salutations!"

The pair of the them leapt back and regarded HK-55 the way Fiika regarded the bulb-bugs.

The droid waved at them, smoking rifle in one arm. "It is great pleasure to see you again so soon, Masters. I have encountered minimal resistance in my patrol."

Fiika holstered the blaster, trying to cool the adrenaline in her veins. The droid could move silently, she's damn well give it that.

Lord Beniko narrowed her eyes. "How minimal?"

"Reassurance: only one Skytrooper and three local predators with poor survival instincts." HK-55 stood proud. "Our position appears to be secure at this time, but I would still advise caution on your return trip, Masters."

"Keep up the good work, HK." Fiika waved a hand at the droid, heart still racing from the scare. Her fingers were starting to get chilled again. "We've got to get a move on, so… enjoy yourself on patrol."

The droid's eyes flashed gleefully. "It would be my pleasure to do so, Master!"

Fiika watched the droid disappear into the fog. "I'm going to regret saying that, aren't I?"

"I believe you are correct in that prediction."

* * *

"Ready?" Koth asked.

Fiika looked him over, decided the question was better suited for him, and asked it in return. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah."

"Are you certain?"

The man stared suspiciously at her and felt around his body. "I got my pants… shirt… socks and boots. Yeah, I'm good."

Fiika couldn't deny the teasing smile stretching across her face. It was a lovely change of pace from the grieving earlier. "Goggles?"

"Yeah."

"Belt?"

Koth hooked his thumbs through it as an answer.

"Gun?"

He froze, and looked pissed at himself. "No way."

"Uh-huh. You forgot your rifle."

He muttered something under his breath and disappeared into the engine room to emerge with the rifle. "Okay, now I'm ready."

"Are you?"

Koth gave her an unamused flat glare. "Yeah. And you could've just told me I needed my gun."

Fiika stepping in front of him, swinging her hips. "And miss the fun of rubbing it in?"

He snorted. "I'll get you back."

"I don't forget things. I've had training."

"So have I." Koth stepped around her to march ahead. "You can keep up?"

"Don't slow down for my account. I can pace myself."

He opened and shut his mouth, at a loss for a response.

Fiika pressed her advantage. "Snowcat got your tongue? Or are you saving your energy?" She paused and turned back to see him standing in the corridor, fighting a smile.

Instead of a retort, he raised his voice. "Did you find anything tasty?"

"We found a freshwater spring," Lord Beniko answered. She tossed Fiika the empty pack. "Put anything you find out there in this."

"Yes, My Lord."

Koth took the pack from her and slung it over his shoulder. "Great. I've got a pretty good idea of the parts we need- let's go see what we can find. Pat's in the hangar, cleaning out the mud and iknayid population."

Lana nodded to them as they left. "I'll go assist."

Fiika silently walked aside Koth.

He didn't volunteer any conversation.

This is going to be a long trip. I'm not even up to date on the Huttball teams.

She stopped at the Gravestone's entrance, seeing what Koth was walking towards. "Where did you find that?"

The grav-sled was more rust than metal; and what color remained of the original paint job was a bright yellow usually reserved for stomach bile.

"In the hangar hiding behind some crates. Spent the morning fixing her up." Koth slung the pack into the trailer. "It's amazing that it still runs."

Fiika climbed into the passenger seat and found the seat belt had long since disintegrated. "If I fall off, can I expect you to return to pick me up?"

"Depends."

"On?"

Koth started the engine and smiled. "If I feel like it."

It was Fiika's turn to be without a quick response as they glided off through the fog.

* * *

"So this is where it all… landed." Fiika waved her hand at the empty expanse of saltmarsh.

In the distance past the trees glittered a sea, the sunlight not daring to challenge the gloomy clouds that blanketed the swamp. Across the ocean, at the edge of the swamp, began a base of the spire; where civilization ended and the natural chaos of the world could reign.

A cloud of wingmaws rose and spiraled over the treetops.

"Landed over there." Koth pointed to a pile of tree branches that looked vaguely suspicious, as if they were hiding something that shouldn't be seen, like the entire rear compartment of a stolen transport. He gestured to a much small pile of branches and vines. "Scavenged the usable stuff and hid it."

Fiika hopped down the grav-sled and waded over to him. She ignored the coldness collected around her spine.

Koth handed her a crate of power cells. "It's destiny. I ditch- "

She cleared her throat and smiled sweetly at him. "I believe _I_ was the pilot when it fell off."

"That wasn't intentional."

"So it fell off." Fiika hefted the box onto the sled.

Koth was trying to not look amused. "Fine. But these parts, we find the Gravestone, and then what do we need to get it flying again?" He lifted another box, this one of spools of wiring.

Fiika met his gaze. "This?"

"Exactly! Honestly, its plain as day." He nodded towards the supplies and carried the box to the grav-sled. "Not for Lana, though," he called over his shoulder.

She straightened up from reaching for a crate of grease and tape, half-listening. "What?"

Koth sloshed back to the supplies. "For her, it's all just skill and luck and coincidence."

"As opposed to us doing this because of destiny? It's destiny that I've got carbonite poisoning and we're here, ankle deep in disgusting water while the one-armed Emperor is hunting us down because me and a Jedi are no longer hanging on his wall." She leaned in close to Koth, taking the box from him. "I bloody hope not."

"And why's that?" He picked up the last box and together they splashed their way to the grav-sled.

"I didn't come out here to philosophize, Koth. I'd like to get off this planet to somewhere warmer, the sooner, the better." Fiika shivered, feeling as if ice cubes were racing down her back.

He nodded thoughtfully and leaned against the sled, pushing the last crates back. "Can't disagree with that too much." Koth reached over to the front seat and handed her his coat. "Lana's told me about all the things you've done."

"Oh, being a chauffeur, researcher, laundress, cook, life-saver, medic… I've done pretty much everything at some point. You're going to have be more specific with your compliments." She buttoned up his coat and climbed into the passenger seat.

He tapped his fingers on the controls for a moment, grinning. "Lana spoke about you a lot. Sometimes I wasn't even sure if you were real or just five protocol droids with different programming."

"Well?" She raised to voice to be heard over the engine. "Do I meet your expectations?"

"I'm reserving judgement."

They flew through the swamp in silence for a moment, passing Iknayids, the names of the bulb-bugs. "So," he started.

"So." Fiika got the distinct impression he was studying her as she watched the swamp pass by.

Koth cleared his throat. "I figure I know all about your past- you deserve to know mine."

She looked over at him, smirking. "I doubt you know everything. Lord Beniko doesn't know some things. They were classified even for her. But if you ask nice enough, I _might_ tell you."

Taai. The defectors. It wasn't in any official report, no, no one wanted to admit to anyone important that a Republic spy had managed to convince nearly an entire squad of pilots to defect; nor admit that the one who brought down the spy was a nobody pilot who'd done her own research and found holes in the recruitment system.

She'd been sent into Imperial Intelligence with a broken heart and a shiny new award and rank to patch it.

"Lana might've told you I was the captain of a warship during Arcann's campaign against the Core Worlds." Koth's voice grew serious. "My crew and I deserted, but I'm not going to pretend that we didn't do our fair share of damage beforehand. Just…" He glanced sideways at her. "Thought you should hear it from me."

Fiika matched his tone. "Lord Beniko mentioned you deserted instead of following orders… You don't have to tell me, I've had my fair share of horrific orders."

"We were holding territory on Denon. Locals rioted, and ordered were to open fire until they stopped." Koth took a deep breath, visibly relaxing as he got that off his chest. "None of us even wanted to be there… massacring civilians? That's not how Zakuul is supposed to work."

"War shows you who you really are." Fiika flicked up the collar of his coat, clutching it around her neck to stay warm. "You and your crew made the right choice."

Koth nodded. "Glad you think so. One more thing while we're being honest." He slowed down the grav-sled and turned to look at her. "When you risked your life to shut that generator down, you showed me you're someone I can count on. I want to take Arcann down, but we don't have to take all of Zakuul down with him." He smiled kindly. "I'm glad you understand that, too."

Fiika waited a beat to respond. "I certainly hope that this isn't all we have in common."

"I've got a scar on my back in the shape of a spaceship."

She covered her mouth to keep the giggles from surfacing. "I meant other views, not… anything in general."

"Also got a mole on my leg that looks like an eyeball."

"Fine. I've got nine toes."

"What?" Koth twisted to look at her, jerking the grav-sled in the process. He righted it to avoid flying them into a tree. "You have nine toes?"

"Maybe, and now you're curious."

He shook his head, grin remaining. "Fine, I am."

She settled back in her seat to watch the swamp buzz past.

Koth's comm unit went off.

"Request: please rendezvous at my current coordinates at your earliest convenience, Masters. I require assistance."

HK-55 ended the call before either Koth or Fiika could respond.

"Blasted droid…" Koth muttered as he hooked a right. The grav-sled let out a protesting groan but kept going. "What's he gotten into now?"

* * *

Fiika smelled smoke. She leapt off the grav-sled before it stopped, fumbling around to get her blaster out from under Koth's coat. "HK?" she called out.

"Please! Save us!" a voice yelled.

She splashed through the swamp towards the voice. On her right was a campsite; small fire burning brightly and a pair of tents, one of which was only half-up. Fiika rounded a tree, and slowed down, hands on her hips. "HK?"

The droid had three people held at gunpoint. There very dirty, very worn down, and very terrified people. The man had his hands out, pleading; the women behind him clutching each other.

"WHAT THE IS GOING ON HERE?" Koth thundered. He arrived next to Fiika in a spray of swamp water. "What'd you do to them?"

HK-55 straightened indignantly. "Protestation: I have done nothing to these pitiful meatbags, Master! They were merely bystanders when I destroyed a group of Skytroopers. They've requested our help in escaping the enemy's notice."

"Then take your rifle off then," Fiika snapped.

One of the women exiles spoke up. "Please, we're no danger to you. We were exiled for protesting Emperor Arcann's war."

'We've already lost two of our friends," added the other woman. "Please, is there anything you can do for us?"

Fiika and Koth traded looks.

Fiika answered. "We're preparing a ship with room for passengers. We can get your out of here, but you will have to help us repair it."

All three exiles sagged in relief.

"You're serious?" The man teared up. "That's… that's incredible. Thank you so much!"

Fiika shoved her hands into the pocket of the coat, fingers freezing. She plastered on what she hoped was a reassuring smile and turned back to Koth.

He was frowning at her. "You go back to the Gravestone with HK and get warmed up. "I'll bring them back with me once we dismantle their camp. We're doing the right thing by helping them."

"Repairs should go quicker, too." She buried deeper into the coat. "HK, you're with me. Back to the ship."

"Yes, Master Allos."

* * *

Koth handed Fiika the last box of power cells. "There we go."

She stared up at the gravestone, color back in her cheeks and his coat unbuttoned.

He did like how the coat sat on her, but then, it was a nice coat. Probably looked good on anyone. Even HK. He shook his head. Sure, she was fun and teased him back, but he didn't know her. Not personally, really. Just second-hand information from Lana.

Maybe he should get to know her.

"You're sure we can make it fly again?" she asked.

He leaned over from the sled's pilot seat. "She'll fly. Just been waiting for somebody to come along and remind her how."

 _Izak help me, that accidentally came out a bad innuendo._

"Let's get to work." Fiika marched off with the box.

Koth turned the grav-sled around and piloted it back into the hanger. He pretended to not see the massive iknayid laying a horrifically large egg sac in a tree. If he saw it, he'd have to deal with it. If Lana saw it, HK would deal with it. And that was preferable.

He nodded to Pattik as he parked the sled. "How's it going?"

The Jedi shrugged. "Well."

And that was that. The Zabrak was a quiet guy, on friendly terms with words but not one to use them in excess.

Koth hauled himself out of the pilot's seat and grabbed the greatest treasure he'd discovered in the deep recesses of the hanger lockers.

A boom box.

With music in it.

Of course, he hadn't check to see what kind of music. For all he knew, it was a Hutt opera or Knight meditation chants.

But music was music, and it'd make repairing somewhat more entertaining. He carted the box into the engine room and set to work.

* * *

"They still haven't been found."

Arcann knew that. The Knight knew that. Vaylin knew that. Most of Zakuul knew that. And repeating it was not going to change it.

They were out there somewhere. The Sith, Jedi, whoever the pilot was, and Fiika… and the occasional presence he could feel lurking around her… He didn't like who it reminded him of.

"We've expanded the perimeter of the search."

Arcann finally turned his attention to the Knight before him. "Why?"

"In case they've escaped- "

"Do you know how badly their ship was damaged? They could not have made it to the Eastern Coast, and yet you advise wasting time by searching past it?"

No.

Arcann rose from the Throne. "Send me what information you've gathered. I will tell you where to search."

The Knight nodded and left.

Arcann turned to stare out at the stars.

 _Which one is Ziost?_

Knowledge told him he couldn't see it; the Core blocked it. But where was the planet she grew up on? That Father ravaged?

"Thinking about her?"

He lied. "No."

"Hm… I can't tell if you're fibbing or not with that mask." Vaylin stepped up to stand beside him. "I think she's alright. Besides not being from Zakuul or having the Force or anything."

"I am not discussing her with you."

Vaylin's smile was full of spite. "Oooohhh, brother, but you do care for her. Is she going to be Empress?" She gasped and clapped her hands to her cheeks. "My sister-in-law? I always wanted a sister."

"Vaylin…" he warned.

"I'm only teasing. She wouldn't love you back after being frozen."

"She assassinated Father. That is why I am hunting her down."

But her words hung in the air, painfully true.

* * *

Lana pushed back the last crate and took a moment to stare at the pile of mildew that had once been…

She actually didn't have a clue.

But the crates were empty and could be stored away until needed.

She gathered the Force and lifted them up, carefully stacking them against the far wall of the hangar. Behind her, the exiles were sweeping out the collected dirt and stamping out any iknayids found. Better find them now than in a couple months when the bugs could have laid egg sacs and grown into a much more lethal size.

Lana pushed the trash over the edge of the hanger, into the swamp water below.

One set of crates done.

On to the next.

* * *

"WHAT IS IT WITH YOU AND WINGMAWS?" Koth shouted.

Fiika sprinted next to him, blaster firing wildly behind her. "I don't bloody know! Maybe it's you! You smell!"

"I what?" In a rush of speed, Koth shot ahead.

"SMELL!" Fiika's boots pounded against the floor. "Turn left!"

Koth did. She leapt into the storage room after him and slammed the button for the door to close. Wingmaws thudded into it.

"I don't smell." Koth not-so-discreetly lifted his arm and took a whiff. "Okay, I don't smell much."

Fiika turned her attention to the storage room. It looked like a weapons locker, gun brackets and empty cubbies for secure bins. She kicked open a box at her feet and grinned. "Look!"

"Deodorant?"

She scoffed. "No, it's something you know how to use."

"I'm not looking now." Koth crossed his arms and leaned against the far wall.

Fiika didn't have the heart to tell him that the cubby he was using for an armrest was filthy and going to stain his shirt. Instead she turned back to the bin and pulled out a vibro-dagger. "There's weapons in here."

"What?" Koth rocketed off the wall and knelt beside her.

"Old ones." The blaster she lifted up looked like it'd come with the Gravestone. The power core was completely rusted out and there were acid stains. "Completely rubbish, this is." She gingerly moved the rusty pistols around, watching for iknayids and anything else equally revolting. There was a blaster rifle at the bottom that looked salvageable.

Koth looked in another bin. "Found that knife a twin."

"I'll take it."

 **Fiika tucked the knives into her belt and let a small smile show at the familiar weight of the weapons.**

* * *

The datapad didn't say anything useful.

The second search area he'd sent the Skytroopers to had been a bust.

Two weeks. Two weeks they'd been on the run.

He sighed and leaned back into the couch cushions.

The scars on his side prickled. That Jedi…

Arcann's fury grew.

He'd escaped; he couldn't pay for that he'd done to Arcann, not until he was back in Zakuul's custody. And Arcann wouldn't take the risk of freezing him again. No, nothing he could escape. The Jedi would die.

If he had the Jedi, then he'd have Fiika in custody…

She wouldn't want him to kill the Jedi.

Perhaps the Jedi could-

With a start Arcann sat up, forcing himself out of dozing. Had… he _had_ just considered keeping the Jedi alive simply because he assumed Fiika would want him too.

No.

It would be the weak thing to do, let his enemy live to fight another day. The Jedi would have to die- But Fiika-

Arcann let his anger rise to a simmer.

She made him weak. Made him foolish. She…

He would find a way to combat whatever she'd infected him with. Find a way to rid her from his thoughts. Find a way to rid himself of guilt.

Arcann leaned forward and studied the datapad again.

A new area, the darkest part of the swamp, caught his eye. There was something odd about the metallic readings…

* * *

Koth paused in his soldering.

HK was….

He looked around the corner and gaped in confusion.

The droid was…

Was it that important to know what the droid was doing, other than making a mess? Koth decided no, that wasn't important to him. But it was important to the boulder and iknayids the droid was blasting into ash.

He went back to fixing the last of the broken wires.

* * *

Fiika slid out of the exhaust tube. "Should be good to go."

Koth threw the switch for the engines to start.

With a roar, they came to life. Power surged through the lights overhead, the air vents pumped out a stale breeze, the floor rumbled.

And then they shut back down.

"That was… rather exciting for about a moment." Fiika hopped back up to crawl into the engine. "Let me see what cut them off."

"Be careful," Lord Beniko warned.

She wriggled through the opening and called back out, voice echoing. "I'm going to need a servodriver. The intake capacitor's loose. The vibrations must've jarred it enough to break the circuit."

Koth's hand appeared with the specified tool. She reached deep into the engine, securing the capacitor to the base of the engine. She climbed back out. "Try again."

He hit the switch.

The engines roared to life for good.

Lord Beniko sighed in relief. "Now we need to just sort out how to get this out of the water."

"Yeah." Koth headed towards the door. "Let me see if I can pilot from the cockpit. We could just raise the ship out and let the water drain out."

"If it'll rise with the water in it." Lord Beniko followed him, frowning.

Fiika smiled and patted the engine closest to her, now alone in the engine room. The air was already growing warm, combatting the chills racing down her arms.

It wasn't enough. She took the kolto from her belt and injected herself.

It was almost gone.

Lord Beniko's stash had long since been exhausted; this was the exiles'. They'd nearly forced her to take it. Payment for taking them somewhere safe, they'd insisted.

She groaned as the icy fingers left her body.

The Gravestone rocked.

 _Taking off already, are we?_

"GET READY FOR A FIGHT, PEOPLE!" Koth's voice burst from the speakers. "THEY FOUND US! SKYTROOPERS BREAKING THE ENTRANCE."

She took off for the bridge.

* * *

"WATCH THE SHIP!" Koth protested as a stray bolt hit the wall. "I JUST FIXED THAT!"

Fiika bobbed around him and shot forward, vibro-daggers flashing as she carved the offending Skytrooper into scrap.

"Compliment." HK-55 nodded to Fiika. "Fine dismantling, Master Allos."

"That's just the first wave," Koth muttered darkly. He stepped back into the bridge. "They'll have more on the way."

Master Pattik turned towards the entrance. "I'll head them off."

"The Gravestone will be ready soon. I just need-"

"Don't say 3 minutes," said Master Pattik, Lord Beniko, and Fiika in unison.

Koth shrugged sheepishly. "Buy me some time. I'll get us airborne." He grabbed HK-55 and pulled him into the bridge. "Until I say so, don't touch anything!" He locked the bridge door behind him.

Lord Beniko spoke. "Pattik, I'm with you."

Fiika followed them to the Gravestone's entrance. It was her duty to back up Lord Beniko, and she would. Even if it was against…

"Koth did say there'd be more on the way," she said in a small voice, staring at what awaited them in the swamp.

Master Pattik stared up at the Skytroopers raining down from the dropships. He took a deep breath to steel himself.

"Something I've learned to count on regarding Arcann…" Lord Beniko activated her lightsaber and stepped out into the muck. "There will always be more." She Force-leapt at the Skytroopers.

Fiika drew her vibro-daggers and charged after the Sith.

Master Pattik rushed past her, lightsaber flashing as he forged a path to Lord Beniko. She followed his trail of droid parts, stabbing anything that dared move and ducking under blasterfire.

Lord Beniko stood at the center of a mob, brute strength and livid slashes of her lightsaber keeping the Skytroopers at bay.

Fiika spun left. Her daggers glinted in the flashes of blasterfire, little arcs of deadly light as she moved from droid to droid.

And then-

She was standing in a swamp filled with dismembered Skytroopers.

Lord Beniko's face was coated in sweat. Master Pattik looked drained.

"That can't possibly be- "

A rumble of an engine cut her off.

A dropship appeared, and out flew a Skytrooper. It lacked the customary white armor; instead it was black and stood about ten feet tall.

"Stars above," whispered Fiika.

More Skytroopers cascaded out of the dropship, filing into perfect lines behind the Command droid.

Lord Beniko and Master Pattik slowly backtracked to Fiika.

Master Pattik's face was stony.

Lord Beniko… looked resigned. "There are too many."

"We have to keep fighting." Master Pattik took up a defensive stance. "Koth needs time."

Fiika traded her daggers for her blaster. "Ready when you are, My Lord."

The comm on Master Pattik's wrist flicked on. "Hey, you three need a hand out there?"

"No, we have help." Lord Beniko's voice was optimistic.

"You what?"

A flash of brightness in the fog caught Fiika's attention. Koth remained unanswered as the trio watched the speeder-bike in the distance grow steadily closer.

A figure in pale clothes sat astride it, and as she neared…

 _She's going to crash._

The woman leapt off the speeder at the last minute, the height of her jump only achievable with the Force. The bike plowed into the Command droid and the two lines of Skytroopers behind it.

The woman landed gracefully beside them.

Fiika couldn't deny that it was an impressive entrance; if a little reckless.

The newcomer was tall, heavily armored in white Knight gear, and the lines decorating her face spoke of stress, worry, and age.

Fiika put her in her late forties.

"You're late," Lord Beniko admonished.

The Newcomer didn't say anything. She nodded a greeting to Lord Beniko.

Fiika spoke up. "You got a Knight to switch sides."

"Not all of us blindly follow Arcann," the newcomer said scathingly. She gave Fiika a once-over. "I thought you were rescuing one."

"Plan's changed." Lord Beniko nodded to another dropship. "More resistance. Knights."

A Knight in silver armor lead the group to stand before the Skytroopers. "High Justice, we have the Outlanders."

Lord Beniko glanced over at the newcomer. "I do hope you're up to fighting your own, Senya."

"My issue isn't with them," she snarled. "But if they're going to stand in my way…"

"I see you've found another pragmatist."

Senya turned her icy glare onto Fiika. "Stow the chatter. Prove you can fight."

Fiika slowly drew her daggers and took her place behind Lord Beniko. "Whenever you're ready."

The silver Knight shouted to them. "Thought you could hide in the swamps? Pathetic! The Emperor will be avenged."

And Knights charged.

Fiika backed up as one rushed her. She spun and drove a dagger between armor plates.

In response, she was Force-pushed away.

She dropped into a roll and bounced to her feet.

The Knight was already on her.

Instinct kicked in. Fiika shot left, twisted, and managed to nick the Knight's neck before having to dance out of reach of the lightsaber pike.

The Knight seemed to be enraged that she'd managed to wound them. And so the Knight charged.

Fiika turned and ran across the battlefield. "Catch me if you can!" She pushed herself into a sprint.

 _It's here somewhere… There._

Fiika stopped in the faint shadow of an enormous tree.

The Knight stopped about ten feet back, suspicious. "Surrender!"

"I appreciate the offer, but I enjoy breathing." She drew back an arm, as if to throw a dagger, and flicked her arm forward.

The Knight flinched. It was human nature to flinch, lest something hit them before they tensed up.

But no knife hit the Knight.

Slowly the Knight realized this, and eagerly spun their lightsaber pike.

Fiika smiled smugly. "Give my regards to your Emperor in the afterlife."

And then hundreds of millions of infant, bulbous iknayids poured down onto the knight from the great egg-sac above.

The Knight screamed and threw their pike away to try and scramble from the downpour of bugs.

Fiika picked up the pike and headed back to battle.

The Knight would not be joining them for the rest of it.

Lord Beniko was facing off against two Knights, outmatched but holding her own.

Master Pattik had taken on the remaining three with Senya.

The silver-armored one stood atop a boulder. "Knights! Zildrog's wedge!"

The Knights fell back.

"We have the girl and the Jedi. You may kill the others."

The Knights charged. Fiika dropped the pike and tried to match the ferocity of the one coming for her. But she was empty, tired, cold starting to pool in her bones from the kolto healing wounds, not keeping her warm. The Knights were fresh.

She was not going to win this fight, not without an advantage.

Fiika whirled away in a flurry of slashes and tried to find something to-

Master Pattik screamed, the back of his robes torn and singed. A deep red wound ran along the length of his spine.

The Knight she was fighting booted her in her chest.

Fiika stumbled away, coughing.

Lord Beniko Force-pushed the Knight away, locked in a duel with one of her own. "Get out of here, Fiika! Save yourse- "

The Knight disarmed her.

And time stopped.

Literally.

Lord Beniko's lightsaber hung in the air.

Blaster bolts from the Skytroopers remained still.

Master Pattik was a statue frozen in the middle of toppling over.

"I take it you have questions?" It was the sickly charismatic voice from her dream, but no longer encased in her mind. The speaker was coming from behind her.

Fiika slowly turned around, and stumbled away, fist in her mouth to block the scream.

It was Valkorian.


	6. Chpt 5: An Extra Passenger

His ghost was staring at her with unsettling intensity.

Fiika stepped forward, dagger raised. "You're dead."

Valkorian smirked in amusement. "Am I?"

"I shot you."

"Yet here I am." He gazed around with disinterest. "Don't be so surprised. Where you go, I go."

"Explain."

Valkorian appeared to have little want to discuss any explanation, but obliged. "We are indivisible now."

 _So you were real in the dream._

"I assure you, I am real, as is my intent to see you flourish." He smiled faintly at her blink of surprise. "Yes, I can hear your thoughts if I so please." Valkorian stepped through a tree. "You have had a taste of my son's Empire, his reach, witnessed his weakness. And Vaylin. She does not believe in restraint." He stopped, still remaining out of stabbing distance. "We can only defeat Arcann if we work together."

"He's your son."

"He has attempted to kill me repeatedly. And manipulated you into doing it for him when he failed." He stepped closer, stared down his nose at her.

Her sweat was making the dagger handles slippery. "I don't buy for one moment that you're on my side." Fiika lunged forward, her daggers plunging into his vaporous chest.

Pain burst in her lungs.

Fiika fell to her side, screaming.

Valkorian continued as if she wasn't curled up in the muck, sobbing in agony. "Were the roles reversed, perhaps I would be skeptical as well. But what if I could prove my sincerity?" He knelt and placed a hand on her forehead.

The pain, the cold… it all vanished. She felt normal all of a sudden.

"Would you continue to see me as your eternal nemesis, or would you open your eyes to the truth?"

Fiika scrambled away from him. "And what of the truth? You murdered Ziost and preach lies!"

"Ziost was an unfortunate side effect." He stood and faced the immobile battle, staring intently as Lord Beniko. "This is an opportunity, Fiika. You are outmatched. Death is all but certain for your Sith friend… and the Jedi..." He silently studied Master Pattik. "He could be saved. I could save them both. I only require the briefest moment of control." Valkorian turned to her, hands outstretched. "Accept my help or watch them die."

She slipped in the mud. "No," she growled. "I'll never give in to you, you monster!" Fiika shot towards him, knives flashing.

The ghost disappeared.

Lord Beniko screamed in pain. Master Pattik fell forward, howling in agony and twitching. He collapsed into the marsh.

Something flew over her shoulder and landed on the nearest Knight.

And the Knight exploded.

HK-55 thudded past her, rifle spitting out bolts that the knights couldn't all block. They fell.

"WE CAN DO THIS!" Koth roared.

Fiika winced and turned, seeing him beside her.

"Keep fighting. They haven't killed you yet."

"No," she agreed.

 _But the cold just might do it._

Whatever Valkorian had done had worn off the moment time had gone back to normal. Her fingers painfully felt as if they were coated in ice. She couldn't raise her blaster as shivers overtook her.

"Lana!"

Fiika raised her head to see Koth help Lord Beniko up. Her hand… half her right hand was missing. Her sleeve was sliced away, exposing a horrendous amount of charred skin. She'd need medical attention. Soon.

Lord Beniko nodded gratefully. "Koth, thank you." She took a deep breath and whipped her head around. "Pattik!"

 _No, not Master Pattik-_

"Help me lift him." Lord Beniko got on side of him and Koth the other; together they heaved him up.

"That doesn't look good." Koth winced as he got a good look at Master Pattik's wound. "I mean, that really doesn't look good."

Lord Beniko gestured for Fiika to open the door to the Gravestone. "Is the Gravestone ready for takeoff?"

HK-55 grabbed Fiika's arm and before she could protest, the droid injected her with kolto. Kolto that would be better for Master Pattik or Lord Beniko, not wasted on her. It would be something to tell the droid later.

After the Gravestone was up in space.

Koth hobbled through the entrance. "Far as I can tell." He glanced over his shoulder at Fiika and HK-55. "Looks like we got everyone. Let's go."

"No- wait." Lord Beniko winced at her arm and stared into the swamp. "Where's Senya?"

That was a good question. Fiika spun around and saw the Knight striding towards them, mouth a severe line.

She felt like she was a little schoolgirl being sent to detention.

"Excuse me? Where's who?" Koth asked accusingly.

"I was about to go looking for you." Fiika nodded at Senya.

"Here I am. Let's move out." Senya switched places with Lord Beniko, pulling Master Pattik's arm over her shoulders. "Come on. He needs bacta."

Koth stared at her. "Whoa, wait a minute." He blinked and a sneer twisted itself into existence on his face. "Hang on. She's your help?" The dark look he sent Lord Beniko wasn't flattering. "If you think I'm letting that piece of work on my ship, you're out of your-"

Fiika stepped between them, pointed to Master Pattik. "He needs medical help!"

"Yes," Senya agreed. She started moving Master Pattik.

Koth's frown got nastier. "Hey! You're not coming on my ship."

"Koth, we'll worry about this later, Master Pattik needs kolto!"

"I don't want her on my ship!"

"Listen to the girl, Vortena-"

"INTERJECTION!" boomed HK-55 over them. When the quieted, his eyelights dimmed in satisfaction. "Many more hostilies are approaching. Permission to defend with extreme prejudice?"

Lord Beniko pointed with her good hand at Koth. "No more fighting. We must leave Zakuul. Give me his arm and prepare the engines."

He practically threw Master Pattik's arm at the Sith and stalked off.

"Go with him, Fiika. He'll need a co-pilot."

She paused. "My Lord, your hand-"

"Getting off Zakuul should be your highest priority," snapped Senya. "Go keep that man from dooming us all."

Fiika spun on her heel and jogged after Koth.

He aggressively threw open the door, aggressively stomped across the bridge, and aggressively threw himself into the captain's seat. And then aggressively buckled himself into the chair.

Koth winced.

He's just pinched a very… sensitive part of himself in the seat harness.

"Koth, I'm sending all power to the engines."

"Okay," he squeaked.

"Are you alright?"

He waved Fiika away and cleared his throat. "Yeah, just firing up the engines… I hope." He crossed his fingers.

HK-55 entered the bridge and stood behind him.

The engines rumbled to life. Slowly Koth babied the controls back, easing the thrusters into position. He added more power, watching for any warning lights.

The Gravestone started to rise.

The great ship creaked and groaned and protested, but Izak above, she was rising.

He grinned over at Fiika, almost giddy. "We're doing it… We're actually doing it. Can you believe it?"

HK-55 beat her to answering. "Observation: The ship is rising. Conclusion: Belief is not required."

Fiika burst out laughing and spun in her chair. "YES!" She laid a hand on HK-55. "Glad you worked that out. We're getting off Zakuul." She spun again, beaming.

Koth tore his eyes away and spoke into his comm. "How about that, Lana! My Gravestone can move!"

Silence.

The exhilaration of escaping the Knights disappeared as soon it'd come. It was a small victory, but Lana and Pat had been wounded… were they okay?

"Do you think…" he didn't want to finish the sentence.

Fiika rested a hand on his shoulder. "I'll check on them. You keep us off the radar."

He nodded. "Will do. Get them up here if they're okay. We're going to need all hands on deck."

Senya pinched her lips together, pulling her hands away. "That's as good as I can do."

Lana nodded at her. "That's all I can ask of you."

Senya noted the dreadful gaze the Sith directed at the Jedi. "He'll make it. You said so yourself, he's a powerful Force-user."

"We need him. He's the only person in the galaxy who's ever managed to best Arcann."

 _Yes, he took his arm._

"Let me have your arm."

Lana shook her head. "No, save your strength. I can heal it myself."

She snorted doubtfully. "Lana, you do not heal. That trauma is not something you can just block out. Give me your arm." Senya held out her hand expectatly.

Slowly Lana raised her wounded arm, staring at it in morbid disbelief.

Senya kept the grimace off her face. It was unpleasant, certainly. Half the Sith's right hand and a decent chunk of her forearm had been sliced away all in one go. It was a small thing that at least it'd been a lightsaber and not a knife that had done this to her, or Lana would have bled out before even getting onto the ship.

"There's not anything you can do, is there? It will need surgery and cybernetics." Lana nodded, staring through her hand.

"Take some kolto-"

"No." Lana shook her head. "If Pattik needs it, or Fiika-"

"That girl is fine." Senya frowned at Lana's fierce look. "She wasn't wounded."

"She has carbonite poisoning from being frozen by Arcann. Her body can't maintain its temperature without kolto. I'm hoping there's treatment on Asylum. For all of us."

The med-bay door flew open and Fiika took them all in with eyes the size of saucers. "Everyone alright?"

Senya glanced at Pattik.

He lay on his belly on a cushion-less cot, tunic torn away and kolto smeared across the deep gash along his spine. She'd tried healing him, but nerve damage… that was out of her league. A professional surgeon would have to fix him up and give him cybernetics.

"Is everyone alright?" the girl repeated unnecessarily.

"Yes." Senya paused. "Relatively."

"Koth would like us on the bridge."

Can he not fly the ship alone?

Lana turned to her. "Do you think Pattik will be fine here alone?"

Senya nodded. "There was a woman, a refugee, in the corridor. I'll get her to watch him and call us if anything happens."

"Where are we going?" Fiika buckled herself into the co-pilot seat beside him as the Gravestone left the outer atmosphere of Zakuul.

Koth resisted the urge to crack a joke. Now was not the time. "Somewhere safe. As- Incoming!" The controls lit up, alarms sounded.

It wasn't good.

Lana appeared in his line of vision, staring out in space. "What is it?"

He caught sight of her hand and looked away before he made sense of the blackened flesh and scorched sleeve "Dropping out of hyperspace. It's…" the dots appearing on the sensors weren't spreading out; and more were coming… it turned into a solid mass of dots. "It's a lot."

And hundreds upon hundreds of ships appeared from nowhere.

"The Eternal Fleet,' breathed a voice belonging to someone Koth was currently pretending wasn't on his ship."

Fiika's face was bloodless. "This… this must've been what Lord Marr saw…"

That wasn't the problem at the moment. Koth toggled a couple dials, amping up the shields. "They aren't firing," he said tersly.

No one voiced that they were all thinking.

Why?

The little blip slowly rose towards his Fleet.

A tiny little insect against a swarm of ruthless warships.

Arcann watched it, almost daring the Gravestone to turn around and head back to surrender in the face of futility.

Something told him that Fiika would not surrender. She hadn't technically surrendered to him when he'd taken her prisoner years ago.

"Ugly ship," Vaylin sneered. She turned to look at him, smiling pleasantly. "What are you waiting for?"

For a chance.

A chance to do what, he wasn't certain. He… he did not want to give the order and have Fiika killed, but to let them escape… It would be better for Zakuul if they all were dead. Or in a tractor beam.

"Take it," he ordered.

And the Fleet opened fire.

Something was smoking, alarms were blaring, and Koth was somehow managing to be heard over them.

"HK, SEE ABOUT THAT HYPERDRIVE! LANA, WORK THE SHIELDS, SENYA- DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING." He blindly swatted at Fiika. "WE NEED A GUNNER!"

She unstrapped herself and roared back. "I'LL TAKE CARE OF IT!"

Fiika stumbled out the bridge door as the Gravestone rocked from another hit.

It was Marr's ship all over again.

The alarms, the shouting, the-

 _Skytroopers._

A pair of droids opened fire on her. They had to have snuck in during the swamp fight.

Fiika sprinted towards them and threw both daggers overhand.

The Skytroopers fell with blades penetrating their batteries.

She collected her daggers and continued to the cannon's controls.

Koth yelped as the scanners on his right sparked.

 _Come on, Fiika…_

The shield warning light flicked on.

 _Izak help us._

"Omnicannon's up," Fiika's voice echoed from the intercom.

He grinned. "There's a capital ship near the center. With the gold-"

"I see it."

"Good," he spat sarcastically at being interrupted. "Now hit it."

"Yes, Sir," she said crisply.

Koth boosted the shield power for another moment before cutting it for the Omnicannon to fire. If it didn't work…

A rumble built from belowdeck; and then-

 _Holy Emperor._

A beam of bright light had shout out and decimated the capital ship into dust.

He hit the intercom. "Target down- wait." Koth stared in awe as connecting ships also exploded. "Five targets- ten- I can't keep up!"

"Your counting skills or how fast they're imploding?"

He made a face at the intercom. "It's real. We could take the whole fleet."

It was real. The Gravestone was real. They had a chance.

Koth reverently took the controls, prayers on his lips.

"Statement: The hyperdrive now meets minimum functioning requirements."

The words died in Koth's throat as he spun to glare at the droid. "Why didn't you say so?" He double-checked the coodinates and prepared the engines. "Alright, lets get out of here."

He sat frozen in disbelief.

The hologram wasn't lying, he'd seen it out the Spire's endless windows himself.

 _Twenty-five ships._

No.

Arcann threw himself from the Throne and paced before it. No, no, he was stronger than this, smarter than this. He was no failure. He spun and glared accusingly at Vaylin. If she'd only been able to stop them when they were escaping the Spire…

"More than two dozen ships in a single shot," he practically roared.

She was white with anger. "So that's the Gravestone. It's as powerful as they say."

He paced past her. "Everything stands at risk. Zakuul. The Throne. My vision for the galaxy," he spat. "All because we let those outlanders get away and discover that ship!" Arcann turned and saw the flicker in her eyes.

No, she was not to blame.

He held up a hand to calm her. Being on the receiving end of what she could do… "I'm not blaming you."

"I didn't think you were," she fired back.

Now guilt at hurting her had joined the ugly mixture of emotions he could barely control. Her feelings would be the easier to repair.

Arcann forced himself to physically relax. "Father held us all back- you more than any."

She squinted suspiciously.

He continued, sensing her anger beginning to fade. "Such raw power and yet you're still spreading your wings, finding your limits."

Vaylin smirked at the flattery, knowing exactly what he was doing. "Nice to be appreciated for a change." She leaned against the armrest of the Throne. "So what now?"

Arcann stared out at space. Fiika was out of his reach for the time being, but he could set a trap for her to walk into, and he could… He wasn't sure what he wanted yet with her.

"Now I act."

"NO! No, no, no!" Koth kicked the panel and Fiika could see the regret on his face as he limped away.

 _Koth: Zero. Gravestone: One._

Lord Beniko cradled her wounded arm awkwardly to her chest, pain apparent in her expression. "What happened?"

He glowered at the controls, pissed. "The hyperdrive worked- one time. Omnicannon's fried, too." The panel he'd kicked sparked. "What a mess."

Fiika fiddled with one of her knives. "We're safely away from the Fleet, if nothing else."

"We should be able to make it to Asylum, if nothing else." He shot a small smile at her.

"An asylum?" Fiika sat up, forcing her smile to remain hidden. "Finally being committed, My Lord? Finally ready your love of work might be a problem?"

Lord Beniko shook her head in amusement. "Not that kind of asylum, and no."

"Asylum is a skyport." Senya crossed her arms. "A safe haven from Arcann's patrols."

Koth turned his foul glare onto her as he spoke to Lord Beniko. "Was she really necessary?"

Fiika tucked her hands into her armpits to stave off the cold.

Lord Beniko looked if she had little patience left. "She helped us escape from Zakuul. She fought at our side!"

"She also hunted me like an animal for years! She was Arcann's loyal Knight!"

Senya stepped between the two, eyes frigid. "I thought I was in service to Zakuul," she growled in Koth's face. "You had abandoned your responsibilities!"

Fiika stood and pushed them away from each other. "Enough! We need to get the ship fixes, and it sounds like the two of you are on the same side now." She shoved a finger in both their faces, schooling her face into the stern disapproving look her mother had often used on her students. "Whatever history you have, its best to let it go!"

Koth glared right back at her. "You don't know what she's capable of. You weren't there."

"Do they know what you're capable of, Vortena?" Senya shot back coolly. She stepped away, "If anybody needs me, I'll be… somewhere." She left the bridge.

Koth wasn't satisfied with losing the argument. "You could have at least consulted with me first!" he fired at Lord Beniko.

She fixed him with a level look, not falling for the bait. "Yes, I wonder how that might have gone. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find some bandages."

Fiika sighed.

He remained stiff with frustration as he kicked the panel again.

"Koth-"

He opened the bridge doors. "ABSOLUTELY! I'D BE GLAD TO FIX THE GRAVESTONE BY MYSELF!"

Fiika laid a hand on his arm. "Take a deep breath and calm yourself. I'll help."

Koth shut his eyes. "Fine. You fix that panel."

The panel was as good as it was going to get, and that was very little improvement compared to the state it'd been in before becoming acquainted with Koth's durasteel-tipped boot.

Fiika rocked back on her heels, frowning.

A tear leaked out.

It wasn't five years for her.

It was barely a few months.

Mum, Luuko, the family… Never going to have Uncle Garo's secret family recipe cupcakes…

She wiped the tear away and silenced the grief for a more appropriate time.

It was time to find something else to fix. And find Koth.

He swore for Izak to take that power core as well as it zapped his finger.

At least it wasn't numb like the other.

Yet.

Koth frowned up at the mildly charred hyperdrive, debating if it was even worth salvaging at this point. The capacitors were mostly ruined, some of the wiring had been home to Iknayids, and those iknayids were now smoking and their waste was collected on top of what looked like important circuits.

It was gross.

And some bug parts were burned onto the wiring. Nothing short of a good ol' scrub would get them off, but that would ruin it.

He tried moving another power core to get behind it.

A spark flew off and kissed the tip of his finger.

"OW!" He tensed in pain and smacked his forehead on the frame.

"Are you alright?"

Koth slid out from under the hyperdrive and glared at the owner of the accented voice. "Why can't there be a maintenance manual?" He rubbed the sore spot on his forehead, sighed as he realized his hands were covered in grease. Great. Just another thing to go right. He pointed to a control panel. "Hey, can you cut the power? Right over there. Wouldn't want to electrocute myself on top of everything else."

Fiika strode across the room and hit the switch.

He got a nice view of her rear, and it was a nice view.

 _Don't think like that. You've got other things to focus on. Come on!_

But Koth's mind and mouth were not on the same wavelength. He blamed hitting his head and the various electrocutions of his hands.

"She's really something, this ship, but no one's been taking care of her."

That sounded a lot more obvious that he'd thought.

Fiika glanced at him over her shoulder. "You've grown attached rather quickly."

 _Are… are you… flirt. Was that a flirt back?_

His brain took over. "No offense, but it's the Gravestone that will save the galaxy from Arcann. Not Pattik, or you-"

 _DON'T SAY THAT!_

"Not me," he continued. "Definitely not Senya."

She sat down beside him. "What did Senya do to deserve this grudge?" Fiika stuck her head under the hyperdrive and groaned. "That's rancid in there, that is."

Koth sighed. "Senya was ruthless. After we deserted, she hunted us for months. Everyone on my crew bled more than once on account of her." He'd lost his ship because of her. "I put all my trust in Lana and she goes to Senya for help. She does not know what she's getting us into."

Fiika emerged from under the hyperdrive and watched him silently.

Koth kept on going. He had to rant to someone, and she seemed to get that this wasn't something to interrupt. Not to be bottled up or whatever the saying was.

"Senya acts according to… I don't know what," Koth spat. "Her own narrow concept of justice, maybe. Even if her objectives align with yours, that doesn't mean she'll do what needs to be done- Believe me. Just…" He offered up a calm expression. "Don't forget who dropped everything to storm the Spire and help Lana, alright?"

"Are you saying that if it weren't for you, I'd still be a decoration?"

"No!" He rolled his eyes at her teasing smile. "You had me there for a moment."

"I know. Lord Beniko told me I wasn't the one you went to rescue, but I appreciate you looking out for me." She brushed her hands off on her pants. "So now you've rescue a Jedi and pilot. What's your focus now?"

She was sitting close to him, eyes smiling and smelling like kolto.

"The ship, of course," Koth answered.

She blinked and the smile was gone from her eyes.

 _COME ON, MAN, KEEP IT TOGETHER._

"But that could change," he added. He took a deep breath and smelled smoke.

Was it another iknayid burning?

Hell, he hoped not. "I uh… I should get back to it." He motioned to the hyperdrive. "Need to be sure the Gravestone can get us all the way to Asylum. Maybe you should check in on Lana. See how that wound is doing."

Wound… he hadn't gotten a good look on the bridge, and he didn't want to.

"Alright, I'll leave you to it." Fiika stood and paused, reaching down to pat his hair.

"What are you-"

"It was smoking."

Lana shut her eyes, aimed her arm at the dummy set up in the gun locker, and shot it full of lightning.

Or, rather, that was her intention

Pain roared up her arm, sparks weakly trailed from her fingertips to the floor.

She hissed and bent over, cradling her hand to her chest.

Bad idea.

Any pressure made it worse. It'd been unpleasant when the refugee woman had cut away her sleeve and glove to wrap it up in kolto and bandages. Healing it through the Force hurt too much. But now…

Lana force the pain into anger. Arcann had done this, it was his fault, and she'd use this fury. She pointed at the dummy, envisioning Zakuul's Emperor. Lightning shot from her fingers.

And pain beyond anything she'd felt before sent her to her knees.

Tears well on their own accord.

She couldn't breathe.

Just her and the pain.

Lana forced a deep breath. Accept the hurt. Slowly she stood back up and leaned against the wall, sweat sliding down her hairline. "Damn," she whispered.

"Might I look at that?"

Lana's eyes flew open and she stared at Fiika.

 _I did not sense you there._

"I'll heal… or manage the pain, for now. No point in wasting supplies until we reach Asylum and can restock." Lana could feel that mystery presence around Fiika again… and it was gone, like that.

The girl was staring at the plasteel body across the room. "Is the dummy a stand it?"

Lana half-smiled. "Always someone I find infuriating. A number of people take turns. It's therapeutic. I've been doing it since I was an Acolyte on Korriban."

"Was it ever me?" Fiika's grin told Lana it wasn't a serious question, only meant to lighten the mood and take her mind off her arm.

"Once, after you attempted to make dinner for me and Theron on Rishii, and then snuck out so it was just the two of us. The flowers on the table were not appreciated. Nor was the candlelight." Lana shook her head. "To change the subject, however, I was right to reach out to Senya. I hope you see that."

Fiika studied the dummy and bounced on her toes. "I was hesitant when you and Agent Shan began communications, but that worked out well. Senya's a good fighter, helped us escape the Knights… I'd say she's an asset." She jumped forward and roundhouse kicked the dummy. Fiika did a series of punches and ended the quick burst with an elbow jab to the face. "I'm a bit rusty."

Lana didn't dare try the lightning again. "I haven't noticed anything. But Senya doesn't give up, either. That was clear the first time I encountered her. We met shortly after I arrived in Wild Space. Senya was hunting Koth, I was hoping to learn Pattik's fate…" She paused at the look on Fiika's face. "We all thought you died on Marr's ship."

"Yeah…"

Lana flicked her eyes away from the forlorn look on her face. "We exchanged what information we could. This was all before I really knew Koth, of course. Years ago."

Fiika stared blankly across the room. "Years ago for me still feels like when I joined Intelligence. Not… Not what really did happen years ago."

 _Ziost._

She shook her head and gave Lana a forced smile. "Those two will have to get past their differences."

"It won't be easy…" She dared glance at her arm. "I suppose I should get back to… healing."

That was a lie and they both knew it.

"Don't hurt yourself," Fiika warned.

"I will take the suggestion under advisement. And you should get to know Senya. I'm not sure you'll hit it off, exactly, but I think you'll find her intriguing."

Fiika nodded. "I'll find her after I fix some air vents. It's rather cold in here."

Lana looked up. "No, actually, it's quite warm. Do you need more kolto?"

"It's not the usual shivers. Just…" Fiika shrugged. "I feel cold, but it's not the same cold?"

 _That doesn't sound promising. Don't tell me you've built up an immunity to kolto already._

She reached over and felt Fiika's forehead. "You're burning up. Do you feel like you have a fever?"

"No."

Lana frowned, puzzled. "Could-"

The Force sent out a warning. Not from Fiika but-

"Pattik!" Lana pushed past Fiika and broke into a sprint towards the med-bay. The Jedi's life-Force was jumping around, fading and surging. She skidded to a stop in the doorway.

Pattik was still on his belly, but his back… it looked worse. The flesh around the deep wound was swollen and leaking fluid, some of it scabbed, some of it a foul gray/green color. He was covered in sweat and twitching.

"Get me some kolto." Lana grabbed a nearby washcloth and dipped it into a water container. She wiped his forehead.

Fever.

"Fiika, I need kolto now! I think it's infected and he's running a dangerously high fever. Fiika!"

"Lo-Lord Beniko?"

Lana whipped her head around.

 _No._

Fiika was as white as a sheet, lips blue and shaking. "I… I can't feel my fingers." She tipped over sideways.

Lana slammed her bad hand down on the intercom and roared into it. "MED-BAY, EVERYONE, NOW! FIIKA AND PATTIK NEED HELP!" She turned back to them.

Both were in bad shape.

 _Hang on… both of you._

"HOLD HER DOWN, VORTENA!"

"I AM!"

"Senya, do something with him, I'm-"

"She needs that kolto!" Koth snapped.

"If he doesn't get it, he could die!"

"She's going to if she doesn't get it!"

Fiika choked on the ice in her lungs. She couldn't move her arms or legs, everything… everything was burning with cold and ice and was prickling with numbness.

She opened her eyes and found Koth holding her down by the arms. Senya was at her side, looking over at Lord Beniko and Master Pattik-

 _Oh Force help him._

Master Pattik was not in good shape.

"Fiika's awake," announced Koth. He tilted her head to look at him. "Hang on, you'll be alright."

"Obviously, I'm in the med-bay."

"Lana, I can help him." Senya took the kolto from Lord Beniko and gently ran her hands over Master Pattik's back.

He growled in pain.

Ice was creeping up Fiika's neck. "I… I'm freezing. I'm being frozen. I- I-" it hit her jaw and she couldn't scream as her head erupted in pain.

Koth's face faded to blackness.

Someone was humming.

On key, too.

Fiika realized her mouth was dry and cracked open her eyes.

Senya was folding med-bay blankets, now devoid of her armor and looking a lot less severe without it. She was the source of the humming.

Master Pattik was unconscious on the other cot, gray and breathing ragged.

The humming built up.

Fiika forced open her lips. "My mum used to hum. She wasn't very good at it. I used to tease her because she was a music teacher."

Senya looked up, smiling faintly. "Water?"

"Please," she croaked. Fiika was handed a water bottle.

"Sip it." Senya felt her forehead. "Good sign. You're warm again."

Fiika leaned against the pillow staring out the little viewport.

Hyperspace stared back.

She looked around the room, but no, just her and Senya and an unconscious Pattik.

Yet she still felt… uncomfortable.

"How does the Grave make you feel?" Fiika pulled her blanket around her. "Like… what do you think if it?"

Senya eyed her. "I couldn't help but take it in. A fable that's real." She tilted her head, a whimsical smile appearing. "Reminds me of a song I wrote."

Fiika picked at her fingernails. "I feel like I'm being watched."

"I can stop looking at you. Maybe that will help?" She shut her eyes and blindly folded a blanket into a mishappen bundle. "There. Better?... No?" Senya opened her eyes, crow feet crinkled in the corners of her eyes. "Worth a try."

It was a terrible jab at humor, but terribly motherly and endearing as well.

Fiika studied her, watching the Knight continue humming as she moved on to folding sheets. "You seem nothing at all like the person I met in the swamp."

That woman had snapped at her, dismissed her, been coarse and rough and tensed for a fight.

This Senya… reminded her of her mother in small ways.

The Knight gave her a cool, but still kind, look. "Being a Knight means everything, but I don't let it define me. When it's time to go to work, I'm who I need to be. The rest of the time…" She shrugged and met Fiika's eye. "I'm just myself. You don't strike me as all that different."

Fiika pulled her knees up to her chest, watching her suspiciously. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Like me, I think you send parts of yourself deep down when its appropriate. I think that's true for a lot of people." Senya flicked out a sheet and it billow across the room. She studied Fiika closely, voice soft. "I like to think its even true of Arcann."

It would explain some things. He… maybe he hadn't pushed whatever it was down far enough and that was why he hadn't killed her, but let her be imprisoned.

Or whatever it was had reared its head in her cell and that was why he'd asked for her help in killing his father.

She hadn't gotten sinister vibes from him the way she had Valkorian, but… Arcann was hunting her down to be put back in carbonite. A death sentence if she wasn't cured of carbonite poisoning.

But then if that dream of being cold and carried out of carbonite wasn't a dream, and the voice hadn't taken on his appearance…

Had Arcann saved her from carbonite poisoning?

But then why re-freeze her?

It would explain the traces of bacta in her system when she'd be thawed by Lord Beniko…

Fiika pulled her mind out of her thoughts. "Why do you oppose him? What's your reason?"

Senya blinked, eyes out of focus as she was lost in thought for a moment. Finally she spoke. "Years after the death of our Immortal Emperor, most are still so afflicted with remorse that they don't see what's happening to the rest of the galaxy." She held up a pillowcase, staring sorrowfully at it. "Arcann has become oppressive and cruel."

There was a barely noticeable tremor in her voice.

Fiika filed that information away for later.

"He'll crush anyone who doesn't share his plan for the galaxy." Senya folded the case and kept her head turned down as she reached for another. "So that's me. What about you?"

"I'm Lord Beniko's personal pilot and back-up. If she wishes to go against Arcann, then I will support her endeavors."

Senya's look was doubtful.

Fiika squirmed on the cot. "Compared to Valkorian… Arcann could be worse I… I'm not particularly against him. He could have killed me multiple times and did not. But what I am against is his treatment of the Empire and Republic. I don't want him to ruin them."

"Neither do I. I may not know much of the worlds you inhabited, but I do know what he's doing to them." Senya picked up the stack of linens and frown at the rusty shelf in the storage unit. She replaced the stack back on the medical table. "You're not what I expected. Not sure if that's good or bad yet, but I do know I'll have an easier time with you than Koth."

"I hope you'll try to get along. The more we work together, the better off we'll be." Fiika felt chills skate down her arms. "Might I have another blanket?"

Senya gently pushed her to lie back down, taking the water bottle and covering her with another blanket. "Just because he betrayed our enemy doesn't change the fact that he was a traitor. You need to be cautious." She stepped back and dimmed the lights with a wave of her hand. "And get some rest. We're almost to Asylum."

"Valkorian lives. He is not himself, nor has he taken a new body. It is… difficult to see. And yet… it is unmistakeable."

The voice washed over her. "His presence in the Force has always been deceptive."

"Like on the Yavin moon."

"Yes," the voice said. "And many times before and since. Even when my life depended on it, I did not see him properly until it was too late…"

Satele Shan sensed a change coming to the galaxy.

And Valkorian's new host would play a pinnacle part.


	7. Chpt 6: Committed to Asylum

Fiika stared out at the nebula in fascination. If she didn't read the scanners, it looked like they were flying through a cloud glowing from the inside by the sun. She could pretend that it was a travel frigate, no one was chasing them, the clouds were just for cover because it was raining below…

The optimistic daydream ended as shivers shook her again.

The cold was getting worse, that was for certain. She had to be wrapped up in a spare coat from the refugees and then cocooned in a thermal blanket if she wanted to leave the med-bay.

And she was no use there.

Not when the Gravestone was slowly falling to pieces and Koth needed a co-pilot, not that he'd outright admit it.

"Approaching Asylum," Lord Beniko stated from the navigator's chair.

 _I don't see anything… yet. How small is this Asylum?_

Koth snorted. "Told you we'd make it."

"We haven't docked yet."

"I should probably figure out how to land this thing…" Koth grinned. "Just the opposite of taking off, right?" He shot Fiika a concerned look. "You warm enough?"

"Plenty," she fibbed. Having any of them worry over her wouldn't do them any good, and it could prove a distraction. Best to keep the shivers hidden. Fiika turned and spoke over her shoulder to Lord Beniko. "There's no way we're keeping the Gravestone low-profile. If Arcann has agents here…"

The suggestion hung heavily in the air.

Silence filled the cockpit as Koth and Lord Beniko considered it.

"Asylum might be the only place in Wild Space free of his control," Lord Beniko finally said. "The shadowport isn't on any chart. It's a haven for refugees fleeing Arcann's forces."

Koth nodded half-heartedly. "So no spies." His voice rang with false cheerfulness.

The Gravestone broke through the nebula, the cockpit erupting into sunlight. A planet and moon greeted them, and-

 _There it is. And- Stars, it's huge!_

Asylum hung in the upper atmosphere of the planet, one long arm extended over the rest of the port. Windows glittered along the arm, and a couple little starfighters patrolled the skies around it like gnats. Real food was there, medical treatment, optimistically a proper 'fresher. And clothes. Fiika's Imperial uniform looked and smelled like it'd been trekking over swamps and repairing engines.

"We'll be among friends," Koth added. Fiika watched him frown as the door opened behind them. He sent a glare towards Senya as she entered. "Mostly," he corrected himself.

Fiika rolled her eyes. They'd been bickering back and forth, and while they could be in the same room, being civil towards each other still seemed out of reach.

"Tell your associates we've arrived."

"They knew that days ago," snapped Senya at Lord Beniko.

Fiika eased back on the power to the thrusters as Asylum neared.

Koth wasn't paying attention to the controls. "You want to explain how?" he asked accusingly. Senya didn't respond. "Figures," he grumbled.

"If we all don't start trusting each other, we're doomed," Fiika warned. She trusted Lord Beniko and Master Pattik, yes, Koth and HK-55 to some extent, and Senya to slightly less for the sole reason of not knowing her as long. Of course, Fiika herself didn't have a history like Koth and Senya's… perhaps she was suggesting more than they were capable of, but they would have to overcome that.

Somehow.

"Demand: Are. We. There. Yet."

Fiika flicked on the brakes, eyeing the narrow dock for the massive warship. It would a tight fit.

Except Koth was still giving HK-55 the stink eye, not watching the approaching dock…

"KOTH!" Fiika fired the thrusters on the portside, but-

The shrieking of metal against metal tore through the bridge.

He grimaced and righted the Gravestone.

It was too late, they were going to shear off a couple cargo lifts as they docked. And possibly crush a fueling cable.

She winced at the deafening thud as they came to a complete stop.

Making an entrance like that would quite likely give them a reputation as amateurs. Which… judging from the group of pirates approaching, wasn't good. The pirates looked like they were going to want to board.

Fiika unbuckled herself, frowning. "There's pirates heading towards us. We better head them off."

Koth looked down at them, and smiled at her. "After you."

Something about that was suspicious, but it could be figured out later. Fiika shrugged off the blanket for appearances sake and lead the way to the lifts.

Koth was unusually quiet, looking completely serious and making her uneasy.

"Are you alright?" she asked as they traveled down to the docking bay.

"Fine, yeah."

Obviously not. The man was hiding something, but pressing him wouldn't be wise. Especially with pirates to deal with.

The lift opened and the pair of them stepped out to see the pirates waiting at the end of the cargo bridge.

A very tall, very buff, and very bald man led the collection of misfits. He stood at ease in front of his crew, grinning savagely. "Mighty fine ship you've got there." His dark eyes flicked to Fiika, giving her a once-over before returning to Koth. "We'll be coming aboard."

 _Going to dismiss me, are you?_

She stepped down onto the bridge, fingertips resting on her daggers. "You bloody well won't be. If there's one thing I don't like, it's uninvited guests."

 _Hear that, Valkorian?_

The ghost haunting her mind remained silent. Perhaps he'd left after she'd refused his power?

The pirates stared at her appraisingly.

Koth stepped down next to her and shook his head.

The pirate leader held out his arms and beamed with happiness. "Captain!" He strode across the bridge and gave Koth an informal salute. "Good to see you." The pirates slowly filtered into the docking bay.

Fiika slowly turned to Koth, fuming. "Captain?"

He smirked back, sweeping an arm towards the milling pirates. "Fiika… my crew. The best engine burners in wild space."

"I should have known they're with you. The resemblance is uncanny."

"The roguish charm tip you off?" Koth hoisted himself back onto the Gravestone.

"No, the smell."

He sent a teasing glare down at her before turning back to his crew. "GET MOVING, YOU MANGY WOOLUKS!" His roar was met with a mix of cheers and groans. "Len, help Lana move a wounded Jedi from the med-bay to the Asylum's hospital."

"Yes, Sir."

Fiika stood on the docking bridge, watching the crew flit around like a well-oiled machine. Memories rose in her mind, popping when they reached the surface.

Marr's ship, working as an engineer after… after Ziost. Head Engineer Pep roaring and them scurrying, already knowing his commands.

And before that, before becoming an Agent…

Her and Taai polishing their starfighter, working in tandem during practice runs and simulators. Her the pilot, Taai the gunner. An almost perfect team and completely in tune with the other.

And before that, just when she'd joined the Navy. Mum and Luuko seeing her off, warning her about basic training. In training she'd been taught how to not be an individual person, to be part of a team. One unit among many. A piece of a bigger picture, one note in a song.

Even Agent training had drilled that in further, hadn't it? She wasn't alone, she wasn't in the spotlight. She was part of Lord Beniko's team, the one who worked in the shadows.

The pair of them and Master Pattik and Agent Shan had been like Koth's crew: in sync and knowing what the others would do.

A burst of shivers knocked her out of her reflecting.

Fiika doubled over, hands numb, ears ringing… the bridge tipped sideways and she toppled over.

"FIIKA!"

She drew her knees up to her chest, anything to keep warm, anything at all, everything was cold and burning painfully…

Hands lifted her up and she screamed as she was carried away.

No, no, this person wasn't warm enough, no, no they were cold compared to whoever'd carried her before, the person who was warm…

Icy hands felt her face and brushed her hair away.

She was frozen.

He could feel something next to him, something soft and sweet-smelling, and too warm to be his arm.

Arcann opened his eyes and frowned at the silhouette lying beside him. There were distinct feminine curves about it. "How dare you," he growled. No one, no servant, no droid, was allowed to be in his bedchambers while he slept. Not even Vaylin dared challenge him on that.

He summoned his mask to him before any light could be turned on by this mystery intruder.

But-

His mask was not on its stand.

He couldn't sense the stand, nor his lightsaber.

"How dare I?" the woman asked. In the faint glow of the light in his arm, he could see her face as she leaned forward. The light grew, illuminating the room in cold light.

Fiika.

"How dare you leave me in carbonite for five years. How dare you rescue me and tempt me with freedom before sealing me back up." She quirked her head, golden hair flowing over a shoulder and going on forever and ever and ever…

Arcann found himself reaching for it. He wanted to touch that hair.

He yanked his arm back, glaring at her. "You are not real."

"No, this isn't. It's a dream. But do you know what is real?" Dream-Fiika ran icy fingers over his chest, leaving frozen trails behind.

He tried to Force-push her away, to fight her, get her away from him.

But it all failed.

Arcann's hatred couldn't burn through the sudden paralyzing cold she'd cast over him. He could not stop her. Dream-Fiika straddled his waist and leaned over him, a smile toying with her lips and they hovered just out of reach of his.

"What is real?" he demanded.

"I can't stay warm. There's poison from carbonite still in my body." She lowered her lips to his. "I'm dying because of you."

And Arcann awoke with a start, alone in his tangled sheets.

"I'm not the only one hiding things," growled a woman's voice. She had an accent… she was certainly not Imperial.

"We share on a need to know basis. Koth's crew didn't need knowing." A familiar voice gently corrected the other woman.

Fiika blinked at the blurry figures standing on either side of her bed. Slowly Senya and Lord Beniko came into focus, as did a hospital room. Sterile blue lights hung from the ceiling, the cot was stiff, the pillow too soft.

"I…"

"Hush." Lord Beniko glanced at her. "You're fine."

She didn't feel fine. Her head was pounding. "I don't feel so good…"

Senya raised an eyebrow. "That's to be expected. You're on two kolto drips."

"Two?"

"Yes. I can count."

Lord Beniko sighed and explained. "You collapsed on the docking bridge. Len carried you to this hospital. You've been submerged in bacta and other medication for about a day. You're as recovered as you can be from carbonite poisoning. The kolto should get you back up to full health after treatment."

Oh. "So I won't get cold like that again?"

Senya and Lord Beniko traded looks.

"I won't get cold like that again?" Fiika repeated anxiously.

"Something like that." Senya spoke curtly. "You'll always be a little cold, but your body should regulate your temperature on its own."

"We hope," added Lord Beniko.

Fiika sat up and smiled at her bare arms. They felt fine without being covered up with anything. No chills, goosebumps, shivers. If it wasn't for her headache, she'd be perfect.

 _Wait._

"And what of Master Pattik?" Fiika asked softly.

"He's… He's still in a bacta tank. With an injury like his, kolto wasn't enough." Lord Beniko frowned down at her feet. "He's going to need extensive cybernetics."

An ugly mix of emotions rolled around in Fiika's belly. Relief that he was okay, pity that the Jedi would need cybernetics, worry that he wouldn't fully recover. Master Pattik was their hope to push back Arcann and his empire.

Fiika sighed. "At least he's alright. And you, my lord? Your hand?"

Lord Beniko held out her hand. Two cybernetic fingers had replaced her missing ring finger and pinkie; the mechanical extremities connected to more cybernetics. Half the Sith's hand was now made of durasteel, and the plating continued up her arm to disappear under her sleeve. Where flesh met metal was pink and swollen. It would be until her hand was accustomed to it.

"I have my own cybernetics now. They'll take some getting used to, but I'll manage." Lord Beniko stared at her hand for another moment. "You'll be here for another day or so until you've recovered fully."

"Try not to get too bored," Senya added.

Fiika fell back against the pillows and stared at the ceiling as they left.

There wasn't anything for her to do while she was in here on her kolto drips, but would there be anything to do if she wasn't? Koth's crew was probably working on the Gravestone.

She unhooked one of the kolto drips to get rid of the headache.

Wasting a day in here would drive her mad. She could do something, anything… But, as Fiika discovered as she looked around the room, she had no clothes. Her uniform was missing and all she wore was the medical gown. Even if she could get out, she'd be noticeable.

She could find the staff lockers… liberate a change of clothes… But that wouldn't work. Someone would notice she was gone, some clothes were missing, and put two-and-two together. Lord Beniko would be questioned when she returned to see Master Pattik.

 _No, that won't work._

Fiika groaned in frustration and punched her pillow into a comfortable shape.

She wasn't going anywhere.

Arcann stared out at the sky.

It was time for him to come to terms with what he'd sensed when Fiika was in the swamp. That fleeting presence that'd hung over her, it'd sent chills down his spine.

Father was alive.

Somehow.

He'd latched onto Fiika's mind and was with her.

 _Does she know?_

She had to. Right?

But perhaps this was a good thing… She made him weak, made him look like a fool, and if she was Valkorian's vessel, then he had to remove him from her mind. Then Fiika would not taunt him to be something he wasn't.

Yes, that had to be it.

It was Valkorian manipulating her to bring out his weaknesses.

Father never did anything else towards him.

And then he could kill his father for good without killing her.

"So, Captain, who was the pretty blondie?"

Koth didn't dignify that with a response. The less his crew knew about his little… whatever-it-was on Fiika, the less they could tease him. Or worse.

"C'mon, Captain," Len wheedled. He leaned over the fuel pipe and grinned. "She's really pretty."

"Is she?" Koth purposely dropped his hydrospanner to crawl under an exhaust line and hide from more questions. "Hey, tighten that valve, will you?" The hydrospanner had to be somewhere. Koth put all his mental energy into look for it, lest his mind travel to a topic he didn't want to think about.

Like Fiika.

And if whatever their little flirtationship could grow into…. More. Not that it had to. She'd been frozen in carbonite for five years and they hardly knew each other.

But the last couple weeks of working together to fix the ship had been downright fun. There was a chemistry between them, and Koth wouldn't object to seeing if she-

 _Stop it, stop it, stop it! Find the hydrospanner!_

Koth blindly stuck his arm into a gap between pipes and felt the handle. He yanked it up, heard a snapping sound, and stared in disgust at a bone from whatever dead creature had died down there.

Len chuckled. "That's gross."

"Uuughhh." Koth dropped the bone back down to remain with the rest of the skeleton. "I'm going to need a new hydrospanner. And to wash my hands." He climbed out from behind the engine.

"So… that blondie. She seeing anyone?"

"No."

"'Cause, I mean, I wouldn't mind getting to know her."

Fiika wouldn't take him up on his offer, would she? Nah. Right?

 _C'mon, Koth, you've got a ship to fix._

"Good luck, Len. You'll need it."

Fiika glowered at her uniform.

It was utterly atrocious after two weeks in the swamp. Not even the hospital's laundry services could salvage it from the grease and muck stains, not to mention the various tears.

Senya remained silent.

Fiika contemplated trying to turn the medical gown into a shirt, but it wouldn't do much for her pants. She gritted her teeth in resignation and buckled on her belt. "Don't say anything about how foul it looks."

"It will do. When you're done pitying yourself, Lana wants you back at the Gravestone." Senya flashed her a disapproving frown and marched away.

No, no, this wouldn't do. The uniform was too filthy to be taken seriously, and after five years, it was probably dated. Besides, this wasn't an Imperial outpost. All the clothes did was declare her an outsider.

She needed to blend it.

Hide in plain sight.

Fiika held her chin up and mustered up an air of Imperial pompousness as she stalked towards where she'd assume the markets were. People could stare at her uniform, but she would hold her head high. If most of these people were Zakuulan refugees, they wouldn't know what rank she held.

Few people spared her glances as she entered the market.

Little stalls were made of freight shipping containers, blankets spread out with wares displayed, boxes used as tables. Stall-keepers kept one sharp eye on customers and another on their products. Credits flashed as they exchanged hands and voices bartered at full volume.

It was perfect.

Fiika shed her patronizing demeanor and slipped around a massive Bothan. She bobbed down into a quick squat and slipped her arm around his leg, snatching a pair of gloves off a table. The woman watching her stall was too busy scrutinizing the Bothan to notice a small hand at hip-height.

She threaded her way through the crowd, relieving a man of his credits and another booth of a package of undergarments. Fiika unpinned her bun and swung out her hair, catching a young man in the face. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry!"

He blinked at her, not realizing that she'd just taken a pair of pants from his stand. "Um… It's… it's okay, miss."

She smiled, embarrassed. "Sorry!" Fiika whirled, knowing full well he'd be watching her hair dance around.

Good. He wouldn't recognize her later when it would be pinned back up.

A stall owner didn't see her sneak around his stall and slip a coat off a rack.

Fiika silently stole behind booths, poking into bins and boxes with open tops, looking for anything what would go with her stolen clothes. Like a pack. She turned and looking in another bin. A boring black shirt caught her eye and she snagged it.

Now… a place to change.

She continued to the end of the row of stalls and ducked behind a couple stacked shipping containers. Fiika tossed her merchandize up onto one and climbed up, hiding from view behind another container. She stripped and pulled on her new outfit.

The coat was a little big, the pants long, but they'd do. She dropped down and shoved her uniform and other clothes into the pack.

She stopped at a food stall on her way to the Gravestone, now dressed like she belonged on Asylum.

"Hey, girlie!" The big bald guy waved at her. "Feeling better?"

"Yes, Sir. I'm looking for Lord Beniko."

"Sir? Call me Len. And she's over there." He pointed over to Lord Beniko and Senya. The pair of them were watching a small group of freight droids carrying boxes and neither waved back at Len.

Fiika nodded her thanks and strode over. "Lord Beniko, I heard you were looking for me."

Senya slowly turned to stare at her.

Lord Beniko sighed and shook her head, torn between amusement and getting frustrated. "You've… obviously gone shopping. I don't want to know how you got those clothes." She glanced past Fiika at Len. "I see you've met some of Koth's crew."

"They seem… nice."

Senya scoffed and turned away, eyes suspicious as she watched Len. "They work for that traitor. They're traitors too."

"Nice is not how I'd describe them, but the get the job done." Lord Beniko checked her chrono. "I need to make contact with my network- alone," she added as Fiika straightened. She glanced at Senya. "Try to stay out of trouble."

Lord Beniko stepped down to the docking bridge and headed towards the doors.

Fiika watched her go.

Had this been before she'd been frozen, she'd be with her. She was Lord Beniko's back up, she was to accompany her, and she had sworn her silence to whatever the Sith did.

And to be left alone here… Fiika shook her head. Lord Beniko had gone five years without her. She was probably used to being alone.

That didn't mean that it still hurt to be left behind.

"Where's Lana?"

Fiika looked over at Koth. He appeared particularly peeved about something.

"Excellent question," Senya stated. She crossed her arms, glaring at him with extreme hostility.

"My best engineer hasn't come back from a supply run to the Free Zone." He glanced at Fiika. "It's a dodgy neighborhood, if you catch my drift."

Not to be outdone, Senya had to add to that. "A black market. Rival syndicates disagree over who controls it."

"They argue with blasters," Koth continued. He smiled at Fiika. "I think my engineer's in trouble, but we've got our hands full keeping the Gravestone's reactor stable."

Fiika playfully stuck her hands on her hips. "And you'd like me to go look for her?"

"I would, and I'll even say please."

Fiika caught sight of Senya rolling her eyes. "Give me a holo of your crewmate and point me to this Free Zone. I'll handle the rest."

Koth waved over HK-55. "I can do you one better. My engineer's name is Tora. HK has her image in his databanks."

"Addendum: I will join you, Master Allos."

Len appeared with the droid. "She won't be hard to find. Tora has a…" He trailed off. "Big personality," he finally finished.

Koth stood up straighter and tilted his head commandingly. "She's surlier than a hungry rancor, but she's the best engineer you'll ever meet. Thanks for the help." A flicker of a smile crossed his face.

Fiika watched him and Len head towards the freight droids. What had made him all formal at the end?

"And when you're done, find me at these coordinates." Senya pushed a datachip into her hand. "I'll introduce you to my people."

"I… How about you help me find Koth's engineer and we can go together?"

"And help the traitor? I'll join you… but not now."

"Alright, see you later." Fiika checked her holster for her blaster and knives. "Come along, HK. We've got an engineer to find."

"Look at the size of that thing!"

Fiika weaved through a small gathering of dockworkers clustered together as they gazed at the Gravestone.

"I can't tell if it's impressive… or a giant heap of junk."

"Could be both," another worker added. "Think they'll let us work on it?"

"Do you really want to?"

"Good point."

She finally got through them with a quick elbow jab. Fiika took the nearest door into Asylum and wretched at the stench.

"FRESH- er… HOT GORAK! SKEWERED, FRIED, THEN ROASTED TO PERFECTION! FOOD THAT'LL LEAVE YOU THINKING ABOUT IT FOR HOURS! HOT GORAK!'

HK-55 peered down at her. "Query: Are you well?"

"I'm quite well, but that meat has gone rancid." Fiika covered her nose and moved deeper into Asylum.

Storage crates and fuel cells lined the corridors, always a watchful owner nearby. Benches were strewn about randomly, places for Zakuul refugees and exiles to rest and for others to, as one man was doing, sleep. Banners from the ceiling bore a thick synthhammer in yellow.

It was surprisingly clean compared to the market.

Fiika passed a couple sitting on a bench. She paused and turned around for a double-take. No, it wasn't Mum and Luuko. They were dead, she knew they were…

She turned back around and paused at a lift.

The Free Zone is a dangerous place… and filth always gets pushed through the cracks to below. Down we go.

Fiika considered the buttons on the lift and pressed one that was still mostly intact; no endless stream of fingers had ruined the paint on it. So no one went to that level, in theory.

They few down in the lift and stepped out into a warzone. Freight crates, up-ended bins, overturned tables… and of course, blasterfire between enemies.

"Welcome to the Free Zone," Fiika muttered. She drew her blaster and motioned for HK-55 to follow her around one of the gangs.

"HEY THERE'S ONE!"

A group of the gang members turned on her.

Fiika dove behind a bin. "BLOODY HELL, I'M NOT HERE FOR YOU!"

"SAYS THE BITCH WEARIN' A BLADE'S JACKET!"

"Damn." She looked over at HK. "Stay down for a moment then get ready." Fiika slowly raised her hands above the bin. When they weren't blown off with blasterfire, she stood.

A Twi'Lek and Cathar had their weapons aimed at her.

"I stole this coat from someone in the market," she slowly explained. "I needed some clothes and it was left lying around."

"Yeah right."

HK-55 fired at the two aliens. Both dropped before they could shoot.

"Nice shots, HK."

"Humility: It was nothing, Master Allos."

Fiika crept back into the shadows where the rest of this gang couldn't see her. She snuck around more bins, HK-55 keeping out of sight as well, and they snuck through corridors.

They made it through a diner-turned-shooting gallery with minimal resistance.

It was when they were leaving that they were cornered by a lean Zabrak with a wild light in his eyes. "Ooooh, so you're against Oggo, are you? Oggo doesn't like that," the Zabrak purred. "Oggo will kill you for being in Oggo's way."

"Oggo's a bit full of himself." Fiika blocked his fist and stabbed him in the gut. "And I don't take kindly to death threats."

"Praise: God job, Master!"

"Thank you, HK." She wiped the dagger off on Oggo's jacket and sheathed it. "Come on, let's find Tora."

After an hour, she turned to the droid, at a loss as to where to look for this Tora. "Do you sense any headquarters for these gangs? Or do you have a suggestion where she is?"

HK-55 clicked as he scanned the surroundings.

 _Please pick up something. I don't want to start asking people._

"Suggestion: We go through this re-enforced door. I sense multiple meatbags on the other side of it." HK-55 raised his rifle and put a bright orange cartridge into it.

"HK-"

The droid fired and the explosion shook the floor. Smoke filled the corridor, metal twisted inward, and HK-55 danced gleefully in the wreckage.

Fiika gaped at him, thought better of it, and entered the door HK-55 had turned into scrap.

She supposed there couldn't have been a more impressive entry to make.

Everyone was staring at her.

Very well, she'd put on a performance.

Fiika called up her mask from earlier, the Imperial mask of patronizing condescendence lazily looked down her nose.

A small group of aliens clustered around a towering Weequay in heavy Republic armor.

 _Ah, so you're in charge._

Fiika studied him.

He caught her doing so. "You could've just knocked. My men spent hours on that barricade."

"I'll remember that on my next visit," she snapped.

A petite woman with electric blue hair was mostly hidden behind the Weequay. She let out a snort of laughter.

"Identification." HK-55 pointed to the woman. "That snort issued from the brilliant engineer we were sent to rescue."

The Weequay, unfortunately, heard that. A greedy glint appeared in his eye as he crossed his arms and grinned. "What is she to you?"

Fiika raised an eyebrow in disinterest. "She's the reason I'm here, scum. Let her go and I'll be on my way."

"Hm… You eliminated my old rival Oggo. That inclines me towards gratitude, but the girl tried to rob me. That's bad for business." He shrugged.

Tora looked indignant. "Chargin' fifty thousand credits for a hundred thermal detonators? That's robbery."

 _Five hundred credits each? That's a con._

The Weequay turned around to glare down at her. "You also insulted my mother!"

"I said she's uglier than a Bantha wearing lipstick!" Tora smirked. "It's not an insult if it's true."

"My mother died putting me on a refugee ship to Nar Shadda. I grew up an orphan!"

"Oh, boo. Who didn't? Join the club." Tora crossed her arms and wouldn't look the Weequay in the eye.

He turned to Fiika. "You see why I have to kill her."

"You see that if you do that, I will personally kill your entire crew present and then you." Fiika allowed a tiny, polite smile to surface. "Or I'm sure we can settle this peacefully."

 _If Tora can keep her mouth shut._

"Look." The Weequay frowned at Fiika. "I know who you are-"

"Do you?"

"You're some snobby Imperial officer sent to collect her. I know you're used to getting your own way. What do you say we show each other some professional courtesy? I can get you all kinds of things. But first I need to throw this thieving scum out the airlock first."

"Theory: It will be a challenge to throw anything without your arms."

"HK, stand down." Fiika pulled herself up to her unimpressive height and fixed the Weequay with a chilling glare. "What I need is Tora alive. And you're being quite rude. Let Tora go and apologize for threatening her. Tora, you apologize for trying to steal his overpriced merchandise. Pay him what he wants."

The Weequay was stunned into silence by her suggestion, is if he wasn't certain if it was serious or not.

Tora did not have that problem. "I ain't sorry for nothin'!" She balked at Fiika's dangerous look. "Fine," she growled. "I'm sorry I insulted your mother…"

"What? I didn't catch that." The Weequay cocked his hand behind his ear and leaned down.

"I'm sorry! Your mother was a nice lady, 'kay?"

"Wrong. She was the best. Now give me my credits."

If looks could kill, Fiika would have been murdered viciously multiple times by the glower Tora aimed at her. Slowly the blue-haired woman handed over a credit chip to the Weequay. "Done. Now where's my apology?"

The Weequay chuckled and motioned to one of his crew members. "Shipment's on its way. Sorry we almost stopped doing business." He bowed sarcastically to Fiika. "See you around, Impy." The Weequay shooed them out of his headquarters.

Tora turned on her, pissed as all hell. "I've ever apologized to anyone in my life!"

"Did they hurt you?"

"My pride got busted, but that's your fault." Tora's eyes flashed angrily.

Fiika sneered. "Well, if you're feeling up to it after such a grievous wound, Koth needs you down at the docks."

"He ain't gonna be happy you spent all our credits."

"I can get more. Now go help him."

"You ain't my captain." Tora flipped her the bird as she turned and jogged away.

 _She's a pleasant one, isn't she._

Fiika sighed and stared up at the ceiling of the corridor.

"Redirection: We should proceed to the rendezvous with Senya, Master Allos."

"Quite right. You've got the coordinates, so after you."

It was a very seedy, badly-lit, and grimy alley, all together giving it the appearance that it was the sort of place someone would be murdered in a dramatic holo-film. Garbage containers jutted out awkwardly, blocking light from revealing what other nasty surprises lurked in the darkness. Not that the light would want to revel whatever was making Fiika's boots stick to the floor. Some things were best left unknown.

"Observation: this dark and foreboding alley is where we are supposed to meet Senya, Master Allos." HK-55 sounded almost cheerful as he held his rifle close.

She was decidedly less optimistic. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

The alley obliged.

Things rustled ominously out of sight.

Something creaked.

Fiika kept one hand on her blaster and rounded a garbage bin.

Senya stared back unblinkingly. "Right on time. My friends have been looking forward to this."

 _Be polite. Even if you don't worship Valkorian, we can use Senya's friends as allies to de-throne Arcann._

"I hope it goes well." Fiika discreetly looked around for anyone lurking near them. "Where are your friends?"

"They're inside."

 _The garbage bin?_

The Knight turned and shifted over scrap metal covered in a substance best left a mystery. Behind the scrap was a tiny keypad Senya typed a code into.

The floor rumbled, and an entire section of wall smoothly pulled away from the alley and rose, revealing a well-lit and welcomingly clean alcove. In the center of the alcove was a hallway cast in shadow.

All in all, it was a blasted good hideout. No one would want to go down the dangerous-looking alley, and even if they did, it was so dark that this false wall couldn't be picked out from the rest.

"I'm impressed."

Senya raised an eyebrow and gestured for them to go inside.

Fiika crossed over the threshold easily.

HK-55 sputtered to a stop and shook as his circuits cut out. The droid dropped to the floor and rolled out into the alley. Before Fiika could grab him, the door slid back into place, effectively locking her into the strange hideout with a woman she uneasily trusted.

Senya's lips were pursed sternly as Fiika coolly frowned at her.

"You better have a good explanation."

Senya turned and strolled swiftly down the hallway, leaving Fiika to jog to catch up. "The droid is not part of what must happen here."

"I spent five years stuck in one trap." Fiika bit her words off sharply. "I will not fall into another so easily, not without a fight." She paused in her threats, distracted with the room.

Deep blue crystals hung from the ceiling on beaded chains, filling the room with subtle light. A plush rug took up the center of the space, gold threaded along it's edges spelling out things in symbols she recognized from Arcann's armor. The Zakuulan alphabet?

Taking up the entire far wall was a ridiculously enormous display backlight in purple, the cases full of various swords, electro-staffs, and a couple pikes. They appeared ceremonial based on the gold filigree and ivory inlays, but the worn durasteel and leather handles said differently.

Those weapons were dangerous.

Fiika watched the shadows pooling outside the dull light for any movement.

The uncomfortable sensation she was being watched was creeping up her back.

"You are free to leave whenever you like." Senya broke the silence. "But if you want the help of my allies, you'll stay."

 _We could use all the help we can get._

 _'_ _Perhaps. We have come this far. Let us see where it leads.' Valkorian sounded disinterested._

 _I do not need you distracting, Valkorian._

Fiika got the sense he was amused as he stayed silent.

"No more games," she hissed. "Truth. Now."

Senya glanced at her before looked back at the weapons on display. "Before Arcann's betrayal, Zakuul was protected by two orders: the Knights and Scions who see visions of the past and future. Scions no longer serve Arcann. Whether they will serve us will be determined now."

"Fate is a tale whispered to us," crooned a voice without a visible source. "But the voices are silent about you, Fiika Allos. We must know why." The word echoed around the chamber.

Why?

Why?

Why?

 _Alright, they're a creepy bunch so far, but no worse than the crazy Sith. We need them, be diplomatic._

Fiika clasped her hands behind her back and smiled up at the ceiling. "I've always wanted to know my future," she said easily. "How do we get these voices talking?"

The voice spoke after a moment. Fiika was half-expecting a Force-ghost to come floating through a wall like a child's campfire story, but no, the voice still reverberated through the room without the speaker seen. "If we are to aid in your rebellion, we must understand what roll you play in Arcann's defeat. We will test you physically and spiritually to pierce the veil and see the truth."

"You aren't the first person who's wanted to test me."

Memories of Agent training surfaced in her mind, and Fiika pushed them back down. Few things could challenge that. She wouldn't discount this test, for all she knew it would be like Agent training. But she sincerely doubted that.

As if it could read her mind, the voice slithered around the room, whispering. "This will be different."

Senya turned to face Fiika. "I tie my fate to yours. I join you in these trials, come what may." She stiffly bowed her head.

The hairs on the back of her neck prickled. Fiika rested her hand on her blaster and slowly stepped to face an intimidating man dressed in heavy black robes.

He nodded at them and flicked on a pink lightsaber. "The heart of Scyva is heavy with loss," he intoned. A woman joined him. "In her pain, we lash out."

 _'_ _I do miss the old ways of Zakuul. Such mythology and pageantry.'_

 _Valkorian, do shut up._

The woman illuminated her own pink lightsaber, face jaunt in the light. "Please, defend yourselves."

The pair of Scions charged Fiika and Senya.

The man came for Fiika and threw out a Force-wave, knocking her back. There was a flash of white-

 _"_ _Fiika, be careful!" Her mother's voice floated from her music room._

 _"_ _I got it, Mum!" She ran off giggling, plate of cookies in one hand and a glass of bantha-milk in the other. The hallway stretched on forever._

Fiika pulled herself out of the memory and barely managed to duck under the pink lightsaber as it came screaming towards her neck.

The Scion's eyes flashed white again.

 _"_ _Luuko, I got you this! Well, Mummy did but it's from both of us!" She held up a childishly wrapped box, noticing the sensation of some of her teeth missing._

 _He smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "Thanks, Fiik." Slowly he unwrapped it and sat in stunned silence, staring at the adoption forms before he pulled her onto his lap and kissed her forehead._

 _"_ _Now you can really call me kiddo 'cause I'll be your kiddo!"_

 _No._

Fiika leapt forward and fired her blaster at point-blank into the Scion's belly. Those were memories of what she'd never have again thanks to Valkorian. Mum and Luuko, dead on Ziost.

He disappeared into faint pink smoke that faded away almost instantly.

There was a flash of light as Senya's blue lightsaber clashed against the other Scion's. The Knight easily pushed the woman back.

"You fight well," the Scion chuckled.

Senya buried her lightsaber into the woman's chest.

She too vanished into think smoke.

"We have passed the first trial. There will be more."

Fiika followed Senya's gaze to another hallway. "I'm counting on it."

'Scions believe there is no greater power than destiny. They cannot believe that you exist outside its influence. But we know better…"

She toned out the voice in her head as she followed Senya up a ramp to the second floor.

A room, nearly identical to the one below, save for a less-impressive weapon display and more blue lights, awaited them.

Fiika strode into the center of the rug, blaster ready to keep Scions from dredging up more unpleasantness. "If there is another trial, let's continue."

The voice did not indulge her. "Hunger. Overconfidence," it sang. "You were more tolerant in the Free Zone, despite the fools you suffered."

"You were watching me."

"We're always watching. Arcann took away years of your time, but he stole something far more from the rest of us." The voice paused, and the sensation of having eyes watching her returned. "Do you feel anything for those who suffered while you slept?" The ton was light, at odds with the weight of the question.

Fiika considered her words. "Why else would I be here? There's been enough pain. I want to end the suffering."

The voice was silent.

Uneasiness filled her belly. Had she said the right thing?

"And of you, Senya? What…" paused the voice, relishing in the flash of pain on the Knight's face. "Do you feel?"

"Shame," Senya whispered.

"Because you failed to protect our Immortal Emperor?"

Senya's nostrils flared. "I was in no position to do that!"

The voice turned dark. "What of the Scions who were slaughtered by your fellow Knights because Arcann demanded it? Do you feel responsible for them?"

Pain flashed across the woman's face, etching lines and making her look far older than she way. "When I joined the Knights, they were shields protecting our home world." Something shifted and Senya looked livid. "Now they are weapons wielded by an insane child who does not deserve her rank of High Justice."

Fiika leaned over to speak quietly. "The Knights killed the Scions on Arcann's orders? Why?"

The voice answered. "Because he thinks himself beyond the reach of destiny."

 _So do I, for that matter._

Senya raised her lightsaber at the appearance of another pair of Scions. "The Knights should have rebelled against Arcann. Instead we have lost our honor."

The taller of the two Scions; a woman with heavy muscles and ebony skin, held her own lightsaber aloft in challenge to Senya. Her eyes were on Fiika, staring through her and empty. "The Eyes of Esne claim what can never belong to her!"

 _'_ _Envy,' Valkorian explained. 'One of my son's weaknesses. Do not let it be yours.'_

 _I envy the silence I had before you took up residence in my thoughts._

The short and stocky Scion's voice wavered. "We receive no pleasure from this trial, but we act as fate demands. Be strong, outlander."

The woman leapt and Fiika and grabbed her by the hair.

 _Taai stood on the viewport over the cockpit of their fighter. "You don't understand."_

 _Heartbreak and raging fury fueled the pounding of her blood. "TRAITOR!" Fiika bellowed._

 _It didn't matter what she yelled. It was all a lie, everything had been. Taai had known it wouldn't last between them, and yet-_

 _"_ _You were a fun one, Allos." The Chiss hopped into the pilot's seat. Fiika's seat. She fired up the engine and left._

 _A traitor to the Empire._

Fiika's hand closed around a delicate wrist. "How dare you pry into my mind!" She whirled and slammed her elbow into the Scion's gut.

The scion's hand force-drew her blaster.

She smacked it away from her, the shot going wild and breaking the glass of the weapon display.

"I'll take everything from you," the Scion whispered. Hey empty eyes leered at Fiika.

"I'd like to see you try." Fiika pushed the Scion away and whirled, boot cracking against her jaw. She followed it up by dodging the blind punch and slamming the flat of her palm against the Scion's ear. "You can't have my memories."

And the Scion turned into Taai.

"Ooohhh, Lovey, don't you want me again?" Taai's jacket disappeared.

 _Yes._

 _No. I can't have you. Not the real you, and I don't want that._

Fiika buried her daggers into Taai's perfect face. "No."

The figure turned into a mauve haze.

"FIIKA!"

The other Scion knocked into her and the pair of them went flying into broken glass.

 _The mirror sparkled in the golden light. Mum smiled and kissed her hair, tears unshed in her eyes and smile stretching her face. New lines that were a stranger to Fiika were on her face. "Oh, my darling, you're a beautiful bride."_

 _Fiika turned her gaze onto herself._

 _Her scars were gone around her mouth. No puckered skin, lips flawless._

 _"_ _Come on, down the aisle."_

 _Fiika found herself with Mum on arm, Luuko on the other. Waiting at the end of the aisle was a tall figure cast in shadow, the promise of devotion and tender love._

She blindly reached for the flash of durasteel, screaming as the glass cut into her arm she was sprawled on top of.

The Scion's hand fought hers.

The vision shifted.

 _Fiika stood alone in the shadows of a cliff. The moon glowed overhead, illuminated countless trees._

 _"_ _I see you," the voice rumbled. "Even in the shadows where you hide. I notice you. Everything you do. The research, the planning, the coordinating. Forming schedules."_

 _She looked up into a pair of blue eyes._

 _"_ _You do not have to hide from everyone."_

The Scion's hand grabbed the weapon. Fiika lurched forward and yanked one of his fingers back.

There was a painful popping sound.

The Scion screamed.

She stumbled to her feet, lightsaber pike glowing blue as she clumsily whipped it around and severed the Scion into two puffs of smoke.

Senya stared at her, a faint smile appearing. "You need training with that."

"You offering?"

"Perhaps." Senya waved her hand and shut off the pike. "To the next trial?"

Fiika wiped at the blood on her arm. "After you." She kept the pike her hands, following the Knight.

Senya stormed through the hallway, flicking her hands out once and two Scions smashed against the walls to evaporate.

 _'_ _The Scions are driven by revenge, but they require fate's compliance. We are above such negotiations. Destiny's merely a conduit of our will.'_

 _You must enjoy hearing yourself think._

Senya paused at a towering door.

Gradually it rose.

Koth watched Tora climb around the engine like a monkey-lizard, on the verge of falling asleep as she repeated her tirade again.

"It's a miracle this thing hasn't exploded a thousand times over after what you put it through."

 _It's a miracle I'm still listening._

He leaned over the edge of the access hatch and repeated his same answer. "It's not a miracle if it's meant to be. I'm living proof all you need is faith."

She snorted. "Uh-huh" Tora wiped her hands off and passed up her servodrivers, then climbed out of the engine. "I'd say you're living proof Miss Spooky Eyes is a lot more patient than she looks."

"Isn't there anything you still need to fix around here?"

"Yeah, but messing with you's more fun."

Koth turned towards the door, decided that dealing with Miss Spooky Eyes herself was better than Tora.

Lana was followed by a sparking HK-55. She crossed her arms, stress lines apparent around her mouth. "I found HK wandering Asylum with no memory of anything since he'd left."

"Whew. Good thing he's okay." As much as Koth disliked the droid on occasion, he was definitely useful. But if he had his memory wiped… "I mean, that's probably bad. Where's Fiika?"

"Exactly."

Izak take them all.

"Senya wanted her and HK to meet her contacts." Koth turned to HK-55. "She gave you coordinates to the location."

"Apology: I have no such data stored in memory."

Izak damn them all.

Koth curled his fingers into fists, anger rising. How could Fiika have just been taken like that? HK-55 was a damned bodyguard droid, this wasn't supposed to happen. But if the other person with them had bad intentions…

"Senya," he spat. "I knew it."

Lana raised a hand to stop him there. "I believe her contacts are the real danger. HK, what's the first thing you remember after you woke up?"

"No need," came a voice.

Koth's head snapped around and there was Pattik, wrapped in bandaged and torn robes. He stood stiffly.

"I sense her," the Jedi said. "And I can take you there."

Senya's arm shot out and kept Fiika from walking forward.

A vision of Arcann stood in the center of the chamber. He slowly shifted to face them, lightsaber held with disinterest as he dismissed Senya with contempt. His gaze was focused on Fiika.

"You seek to remove Arcann from the Eternal Throne." The voice sounded closer, the source above. Fiika craned her head back to see darkness in place of the ceiling. "His destiny is to fall."

The vision of Arcann dropped his lightsaber and crumpled to his knees. Murderous rage burned in his eye as his clothes became battle-stained and his cybernetic arm replaced with frayed wires. His mask cracked.

"We have foreseen that much."

Fiika stepped past Senya and stared down at the vision.

"But his final fate remains unclear," the voice hissed. "When he is at your mercy, what will you do?"

Vision-Arcann was twisted with loathing, his hand in a fist. He looked absolutely mad.

 _What will you do?_

The voice's words echoed around in her mind. He'd offered her safety and instead stole away five years. He'd saved her on Darth Marr's ship, only to use her for his own gain. And what had happened to the galaxy… he'd bested both the Empire and Republic and was slowly strangling them.

So many people had died.

He's killed Master Pattik's apprentice, hundreds of Jedi, Sith, men, women, soldiers. Civilians.

There were rumors he killed his own brother.

Arcann was a vile man with power he hadn't earned.

But for all he'd done, he was not Valkorian.

Fiika turned her back to the vision, knowing the voice would not be satisfied with her answer. "Death is not always the answer. I don't want to save him, but there's been enough death. Even for a man like Arcann, there are other ways to atone. And I will not stoop to his level."

The voice whipped around the room in fury.

"Arcann will not escape justice for the lives he's taken." Senya spoke softly, staring past Fiika at the vision.

A figure dropped down between them. He looked vaguely familiar… With a jolt, Fiika realized he was the Scion she'd met on Arcann's flagship. He had a name… Heskal? Yes, that was it.

He threw out an arm and knocked Senya back into a pillar. Her head hit the durasteel with a painful crack, and she slumped to the ground, chin on her chest and completely unconscious.

Heskal stared flatly at Fiika, pupils huge in the dim light. "If you are not with us," he snarled. "You stand against the tides of destiny." He was the speaker of the voice.

Something cold seared through her belly.

Fiika blinked at the lightsaber protruding from her belly-button. It wasn't real. Vision-Arcann walked around and stared down at her in fury.

She'd turned her back to him and been stabbed.

Cold spread out from the fake wound.

"Arcann and Vaylin must die," Heskal warned. His pink lightsaber sliced through the vision, ending it.

No. This was revenge he wanted. Master Pattik had said that the future was never set in stone.

Heskal spoke of the past and his revenge in the future.

"I'm starting to second-guess whether or not we need you."

The Scion's eyes turned white, glowing faintly in the darkness. "You act as if you have a choice!" He grabbed her by the hair and held her close enough that he could roar into her face. And Heskal needed a couple packs of breath mints. "We know our part, it is yours that must be revealed. His eyes flared. "I will know your fate even if I must tear you open to see it."

His other hand clamped down on her throat and Fiika screamed.

 _The Knights circled them, memories of ice racing through her veins. Master Pattik and Lord Beniko fought them off, protecting her._

 _"_ _STAND DOWN AND FACE JUSTICE!"_

 _"_ _PATHETIC ASSASSIN!"_

 _One Knight leapt away, the other's windpipe crushed by Lord Beniko._

The vision wavered.

 _Soft robes covered her, heavy gold stitching glittering in the light. Hundreds of Knights bowed before her._

 _Past them were soldiers and-_

 _A warm hand took hers._

Fiika bit Heskal's fingers.

He roared in pain and released her.

She stumbled back, wheezing and watching the Scion.

Heskal shook his hand, eyes back to their usual creepiness. "I need to know who that was!" he yanked to towards him with the Force.

Her daggers flashed as his lightsaber lit up the room. She ducked under a wild swing and slashed at his arm, catching his flowing sleeve but missing flesh. Her dagger was torn from her grip.

"Bloody hell."

The Scion's hand lashed out and-

 _'_ _I WANT TO LIVE! PLEASE, ARCANN, I WANT TO LIVE!"_

 _Her screams echoed around the Spire as he looked on impassively._

 _And then Fiika was staring up at herself in carbonite, seeing the terror and resignation on her face. Slowly she looked over and found Arcann staring up at the carbonite as well._

 _He looked remorseful._

"NO," Heskal bellowed. "THE FUTURE!"

 _Arcann turned into Vaylin. She cackled and screamed into Fiika's face. "YOU CAN'T STEAL MY BROTHER AWAY. I WILL KILL YOU!"_

 _Pain blossomed in Fiika's chest, and she fell over, staring at the stars. Her heart stopped beating, lungs stopped breathing._

 _Around her raged a battle._

 _Vaylin kicked her corpse._

"Pathetic." Fiika dropped to the floor. Heskal loomed over her, livid. "You are not the savior this galaxy needs. You… encourage his darkness. Her madness. And Arcann can't rule this galaxy because of you." The pink lightsaber appeared over her. "You must die."

Time slowed.

 _'_ _Enough. His argument with you is pointless.'_

Valkorian regarded Heskal one would a pesky gnat.

 _'_ _I can end this without any more bloodshed if you accept the gift of my power.'_

Fiika crawled away from him, throat burning and arms shaking. "I will handle him myself." Her fingers closed around the pike.

He snorted.

 _'_ _Then stop wasting time. Reveal his fate.'_

He disappeared.

Heskal's lightsaber crashed down onto empty space. He looked up at Fiika in suspicion.

She spun the pike in her arms and took up a defensive pose used for vibroswords. Pikes were like swords with a long handle, right?

Somewhere an old training officer was probably laughing.

Heskal charged.

Fiika deactivated the pike and threw it at him. He stuttered at the move and knocked the weapon away.

He'd taken his eyes off Fiika.

Her boot connected with his jaw and Heskal swayed with the force of the kick. She took advantage of her momentum and landed in a crouch, pushing up with her leg to give her fist extra power as she aimed for the Scion's liver.

Heskal doubled over.

She knocked him down and relieved him of his fallen lightsaber.

A groan echoed around the chamber. A moment later, and Senya stood alongside Fiika, gaze level as she studied Heskal. "Do not judge him too harshly. This trial was necessary for all of us." She rubbed the back of her head. "We need the Scions."

"My throat begs to differ." Fiika paused as other Scions dropped down from the hidden ceiling. "We need friends, and they don't have to see into the future."

One of the Scions from earlier stepped up, looking pointedly at Heskal. "The blood of Tyth flows through you, outlander. Please do not force us to spill it."

She stepped back and let Heskal rise.

The Scions relaxed.

An explosion sent the nearest door flying across the chamber and smacking loudly into a golden statue.

"Stand. Down. Now." Lord Beniko barked, brandishing her lightsaber and pale with anger.

Behind her stood Master Pattik, quietly studying the Scions.

Heskal stared at him intensely. There was a flicker of light in his eyes. "I see," he whispered.

"You heard the Sith." Fiika shoved him towards his fellow Scions. "Stand. Down."

He turned an eerily calm look upon her. "Every moment since you entered, even this one, was predicted. Everyone here played the role fate assigned them. I have one final question for you." Heskal squinted, watching Fiika closely. "What future do you see for this galaxy when Arcann and his Eternal Fleet are gone?"

She met his gaze, refusing to blink. "One person shouldn't decide the fate of the galaxy. When the time comes, we can work together."

It wasn't likely, but it was what she hoped would happen. Too unrealistic with the Empire against the Republic.

 _'_ _He will not live to do that.'_

Heskal's eyes flickered white again and he smiled, satisfied. "You have nothing more to reveal."

A sinking feeling in her stomach told Fiika he probably knew who was in her mind.

The Scion stepped back and raised his volume. "I now know what blinded us the future. Our Immortal Emperor lives…" He paused dramatically.

 _Just say the blasted thing._

She put every ounce of energy into working on a good reaction.

"Inside your mind."

Fiika waited a heartbeat before snorting. "That's rubbish." She turned to give Lord Beniko and the others a droll look, as if to say 'yeah, right.'

Koth's eyebrows were up near his goggles, Master Pattik silently stared at her, and Lord Beniko…

 _No, no no no no-_

The Sith looked sadden as she stuck her hands on her hips in resignation. "It couldn't stay a secret forever."

 _I can salvage this._

"You don't honestly believe Valkorian's in-"

"He is." Master Pattik tilted his head in understanding. "Hiding this will only hurt you."

"No, he's... no, no no…" Fiika held up her hands to ward off their looks. "No! Valkorian… he… he- he…" Her stammering trailed off. "My lord, how long have you know?" she asked softly.

Lord Beniko matched her tone. "I've had my suspicions since you first collapsed from carbonite poisoning. You should have died, and I sensed… something keeping you alive. It wasn't until we fought the Knights in the swamp that I knew for certain. His presence shrouded yours."

"Whoa whoa, you knew about this?" Koth turned to Fiika, hurt. "And you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't want anyone to know that a monster's freeloading in my skull."

HK-55 whirled and clicked as a laser roved over her. "Analysis: Scan reveals no evidence you possess a secondary personality matrix." He paused. "It is possible your brain is simply malfunctioning."

Heskal waved his hand to silence them all. "Our duel gave me a glimpse of what's to come. You will end the tyranny of the Eternal Throne… but many will suffer before that victory."

Fiika had reached the end of her patience with his vague words. "Let me guess. Your vision didn't specify who suffers… or how long defeating Arcann will take," she spat scathingly. "And-"

"Doesn't matter," Koth interrupted. He grinned. "We win. If Emperor Valkorian lives because of you, there's hope for Zakuul."

Heskal stared at Fiika. "Zakuul will have an Emperor again."

"See?" Koth gestured to the Scion. "He said so!"

Lord Beniko pinched the bridge of her nose. "Your beloved Immortal Emperor is a threat to all life, everywhere." She sent a sideways glance to Fiika. "We must find a way to separate you from him."

 _He'll love that idea._

Fiika crossed her arms, suddenly wanting to go back to being a nobody hidden in the shadows. All this attention was making her squirm on the inside. "No one wants Valkorian out of my head more than I do. But removing him won't be easy."

 _It'll be blasted difficult._

Lord Beniko sighed and looked around the Scion chamber. Almost everyone was listening to the conversation. "We have a lot to discuss."

Master Pattik chuckled, and then winced. He gently massaged his belly, pain apparent on his face. "Not here. Somewhere… more private."

Fiika met Heskal's eyes, ready to be done with Scions. "I'll assume I passed your test. Join us, or don't. Either way, I'm done." She pulled her stolen jacket around her like a shield from everyone's eyes. The pike caught her eye.

No, she wasn't going to steal it from the Scions. Could give them as excuse to see her again and make ambiguous claims about her future.

"There is one truth left to reveal." Senya's voice rang out.

Fiika spun on her heel to look at the Knight standing in the shadows.

The woman looked small for a moment, pain and tears in her eyes. A muscle twitched in her jaw. "I withheld the true reason I followed Fiika through the trials. I needed to understand this outlander who will destroy Arcann and Vaylin…"

 _'_ _Haha… she's going to tell you. How delightful,' Valkorian laughed mirthlessly._

Senya's voice echoed around the chamber. "They're my son and daughter."

He didn't want to believe it.

Since she'd escaped… no, since Father had escaped in her mind, Arcann's reign had been thrown into chaos. The embarrassment of the Jedi and her escaping the Spire, the defeat at the hands of the Gravestone, and now…

Not even his own mother was on his side.

Maybe it wasn't Father, and Fiika simply had a knack for dismantling Emperors. First Father, now him-

No. It had to be Father taking revenge on Arcann for killing him.

Fiika had been kind towards him. She wouldn't do this… But then he'd kept her prisoner for five years. Perhaps this was her getting back for that, but then why would Mother help her? Father had to be behind it.

"You're certain she helped them?" he repeated.

Vaylin simmered as she stalked back and forth. "I killed three Knights to make sure they weren't lying!" She whirled and her cheeks grew pink. "And then another three because I hate odd numbers. That bitch you fancy left in the Gravestone with our mother's help! She's against us, Mother is." Her temper boiled over. "She hates us! Look at her, she and Father obviously favor that girl you care for over their own flesh and blood." She pitched forward, arms braced on the Throne's armrests and eyes boring into Arcann's. "If Mother likes her, then I hate her."

He dampened down his own fury at Vaylin's crude comment about Fiika. It was just a jab to get him upset. And he was too strong to let that get a rise out of him. Arcann forced a calm tone. "Mother was always strong-willed. That's why Father loved her."

"Your pathetic little crush is strong-willed," Vaylin hissed. She pushed off the Throne and resumed her pacing. "Are you going to leave me for her?"

"You are my sister. Family. She is nothing."

She fell silent, still pacing.

He pondered her words. If he had let Fiika live, not as a carbonite trophy but as a person… No. It was the past. He couldn't have what wasn't there anymore.

"Do you think Mother knows Father's alive?" Vaylin stopped and stared out at the stars, frowning. "Did she betray us for him, or her?"

He wanted to end the circular argument. "It doesn't matter." Mother had loved him, unlike Father. She'd been proud of what he could do, even if it wasn't as good as The- his brother. Arcann shut his eyes, leaning back.

The lullabies she'd sing to them at night no matter how old they were. She'd sing while polishing her armor, and he'd chime in. Mother's smile, always bright and loving and proud- and then it'd disappear when Father praised his brother, but not Arcann.

And then she disappeared.

He'd heard she'd shown up to rescue Vaylin from Nathema.

She never showed up to rescue Arcann from his brother's shadow.

But then he could have saved himself from that. He was supposed to be strong enough that he didn't need rescue or help. And now, as Emperor, he was strong.

"Mother will return to us or face the consequences," he declared.

Vaylin snorted spitefully. "We don't need Mother or Father. Our parents gave us the power to wield the future. They should've known we'd use it."


End file.
